May 16, 2006 23:32
Huh.
Maybe life isn't as complicated as I originally thought.
I have had a special privilage today. I was able to go with a friend of mine to court for thier final sentanceing.
I know some people who say that the letter of the law is the be-all and end-all of our society. I even was considering law school for a long time and have had the opportunity to work in a law office. I even studied constitutional law for a brief time before moving on to other things.
But I have never really considered the human dynamic involved with breaking the law and paying the consequences. The human spirit can be crushed and extingquished in an instant by a judges decision, and if the consequences of that decision are based entierly on the "letter of the Law", and the human dynamic is removed from the sentanceing, then we become less than a society of the just, and more of a society of the Jailors.
My friend has done some really BAD things, and they should be punished, yes. It is not in our power to deny the laws of man. But we have created a system that needs the guilty to recognize thier actions BEFORE the sentancing, or they deny themselves that right to apeal to the courts with a clear concience and an intent to better themselves.
On that note, I want to recognize my freind. I have never, in my entire life, met someone who has impressed me the way that they have. To have completely turned thier life around, and take the experiences that ruined thier good name and turn them into something that helps others. To work with those on the path of desrtuction, and willingly embrace the idea of changing another person's life with thier own. To make ammends, and appologize to those they have wronged.
In order to be forgiven, in man's or God's eyes, we have to ask first. And the greatest way to ask is to show what you are willing to do in return for that forgivness, even before forgivness is granted.
I have seen grace. It is in the example of the guilty, embracing the path of the righteous, and leading us all by example.
....amazing....
My friend was given a decreased sentance, without prison time, for their acts of service and thier willingness to change and lead a life the rest of us should envy. This is what I mean by the human dynamic. This is what I mean when I say I don't believe in fate. I believe we have the capacity to change not only our lives, but ALL life, by choosing to create our own fates.
If I become half the person Anne-Marie is, then my life will be lived to it's fullest.
Travis The Tonnberry King