Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭1

I want justice for you and mercy for me most of the time. This is my default.

And even in smaller matters. I am driven to madness when I see injustice and people escaping from being held responsible. But I am often unable to bring into focus the same offenses in myself.

I will dismiss my own grievances with a plea for forgiveness and a downplaying of the act altogether. Mercy. Grace. Let me try again. I’m sorry.

There’s a happy middle ground, I think. It may be indecipherable to all, but it’s where the real grace gets to be planted and worked through our lives.

Yes, there are consequences for our actions and many of them are unavoidable and nonnegotiable. But, where our hope is concerned, we have all been given the opportunity for repentance.

And this is just a fancy word for changing.

Isn’t change what we most long for? We’ve gotten to the end of ourselves. Our addiction has consumed our better sensibilities. We need change. And we have little to give in exchange.

In justice there is a balancing of the weights. But in mercy, there lives the hope of grace.

God, thank you for the grace to live in the light.