A compelling editorial by Michael Gerson of The Washington Post, using the recent Mark Souder scandal as a jumping off point for a sympathetic look at the human condition and our need for mercy (ht JS).
The failure of human beings to meet their own ideals does not disprove or discredit those ideals. The fact that some are cowards does not make courage a myth. The fact that some are faithless does not make fidelity a joke. All moral standards create the possibility of hypocrisy. But I would rather live among those who recognize standards and fail to meet them than among those who mock all standards as lies. In the end, hypocrisy is preferable to decadence.
What we really need is to combine high moral standards with humility. When “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was first published, the poet and priest Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote to a friend: “You are certainly wrong about Hyde being overdrawn; my Hyde is worse.” In every life — apart from saints and psychopaths — there is a chasm between our intentions and our conduct. All human journeys are part pilgrimage, part farce. Whenever we mock moral shoddiness, laziness and frailty, we mock into a mirror.
This recognition should lead toward the most underrated of the moral virtues: mercy. Yes, people are baser than their highest ideals. They are also nobler than their worst moments. This does not make the distinction between base and noble impossible. But it makes a little grace appropriate.
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6 responses to “Mark Souder and The Case For Grace”
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As all Southerners know, and no Midwesterner understands, hypocrisy is a highly underrated virtue.
I think Michael Gerson's editorial is wonderful.
"Try a Little Tenderness."
It's a beautiful editorial that cuts to the heart of things. I shared it with some friends a few days ago – both liberal and conservative – and they were all moved. Any political commentator who manages to quote CS Lewis and GM Hopkins in one piece is okay by me…
To be "mercy", the behavior generally can not be compelled by outside forces. (A famous literary example is from The Merchant of Venice when Portia asks Shylock to show mercy. He asks, On what compulsion, must I? She responds:
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.
Nice quote, Fisherman! Shakespeare is da bomb.
How do you see that applying to the Michael Gerson editorial?
The caption of the post mentions "our need for mercy". So, I thought a definition of the term, mercy, was important. What is mercy? What does it look like, act like, feel like? Shakespeare answers very well.
Another word study is schadenfreude. I'll leave that to anyone interested in a word of the day independent study. Toxic stuff.
To quote Shakespears, mercy is a double blessing– both to the recipient and the merciful.
A favorite scripture of mine is:
"He who is forgiven much, loves much". Also, "The Lord shows himself merciful to the merciful." Mercy (an experience of Grace in action) breaks through a lot of the world's ways and our individual strongholds. Healing stuff for sure.