A Lesson About Mercy

The story of The Woman Taken in Adultery, a reading for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, 2019

John Chapter 8 King James Version New American Bible, Revised Edition

Verse 1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Verse 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.

Verse 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.

Verse 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.

Verse 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?"

Verse 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

Verse 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

Verse 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

Verse 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him.

Verse 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

Verse 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more."

The story of The Woman Taken in Adultery, a reading for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, 2019
John Chapter 8	King James Version	New American Bible, Revised Edition
Verse 1	Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.	while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Verse 2	And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.	But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.
Verse 3	And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,	Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.
Verse 4	They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.	They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.
Verse 5	Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?	Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?"
Verse 6	This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.	They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
Verse 7	So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.	But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
Verse 8	And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.	Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
Verse 9	And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.	And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Verse 10	When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?	Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
Verse 11	She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.	She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more."

The Lord's Prayer The Quality of Mercy

Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4 The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors.*
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil,
For thine is the kingdom,
And the power and the glory
Forever. Amen!
*Catholics say:
forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who
trespass against us. 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 to God Himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy...

The Lord's Prayer	The Quality of Mercy
Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4	The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our debts As we forgive our debtors.* And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil, For thine is the kingdom, And the power and the glory Forever. Amen! *Catholics say: forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us.	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 to God Himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this: That in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy, And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy...

I'll get right to the point! I am ashamed, embarrassed, frustrated and angry at what I see as a gross injustice in my home town. What ever happened to "Love thy neighbor," anyway?

Recently a terrible tragedy happened in our small Southern Mississippi town, the like of which most of us had never experienced before. A hard-working mother who, for the sake of what is left of her privacy I'll call Brandy, left her three-year old in a hot car, where the child died. The tragic story was on the TV news and the front page of the local paper. Nobody but me seems to have any compassion for the mother! The general consensus is that "she killed her baby; she got what she deserved!"

Maybe so, but there's more to it than that. Brandy, a single mother, worked a difficult, exhausting job that put her among the very worst of our society; rapists and murderers and professional criminals of all kinds! She had gone off duty after a grueling 12 hour shift, picked up her child from day care, and reported to her supervisor at his home. One thing led to another, and they reportedly had sex, after which Brandy fell asleep for a few hours. The child, still strapped in the child seat in Brandy's car, died of heat stroke when the car engine stopped, probably due to engine overheating, causing the air conditioner to blow hot, instead of cold, air. When Brandy woke up and remembered where the child was, it was too late! The child was dead!

Brandy was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum allowable penalty, for the crime of manslaughter. In Mississippi, manslaughter is "causing the death of another person as a result of culpable negligence." She had been indicted by the prosecuting attorney for murder, which in Mississippi is "causing the death another person while committing an eminently dangerous act showing a depraved heart and with no regard for human life." Given the public outrage over the death of the child, it seems likely that a jury of so-called "Christians" would have found that having sex and falling into an exhausted sleep indeed "showed a depraved heart with no regard for human life," for which Brandy could have been sentenced to life in prison. She would almost certainly have been convicted of the lesser included offense of manslaughter. By pleading guilty to manslaughter, she guaranteed that the penalty could not be greater than 20 years. Of course, there was a very small chance that she would have been found "not guilty" and set free, but, but given the "crucify him" public demand for "what she deserved," she wisely decided not to take the risk of the more serious punishment.

Shocked by the article in the paper, I asked several people, including those I thought would show more compassion, what they thought about it. The universal response was basically, "She killed her baby; she got what she deserved!"

I'll have to admit, I'm confused about the whole concept of "justice." Nobody has ever shown me a pile of justice, or even suggested a unit of measurement. As an engineer, I know that if you can't measure it, you haven't defined it, either. The working definition that I was taught in Catholic school was "giving to everyone what he deserves," but who really knows what that is, and why is it always possible to do that? Our courts are supposed to do that, but they rarely impose the death penalty on people who have deliberately and brutally murdered others by malice aforethought. Besides, the victims are still dead; can the courts give life to them? How is this even fair?

I think that is far too simple a position! I wonder if all those people I talked to always got what they deserved? I know I haven't - both ways!

Being a working single mother nowadays is a tough job. It has to be especially tough for a twenty-something young woman with a toddler and nobody, like a husband, for example, to help her. The child's father, a Florida resident, was quoted to have said that Brandy should receive the maximum sentence, that he (the absent father) suffers emotionally, with haunting dreams of the child "fighting for life," and that every time he sees a car like Brandy's, he sees the child "gasping for air." Yeah, like where was he when all this was going on!

What I'd like to know is why the hell the father was in Florida not taking care of the mother and child instead of here in Long Beach where, it seems to me, he damned well should have been, doing that! Why did a single mom with a toddler have to work a twelve hour shift? It also seems to me that the supervisor is just as much complicit in the child's death as the mother was, because he knew he was violating policy by having sex with a vulnerable subordinate whom he should have been supervising by, among other things, making sure she and her child got home safely after her report instead of luring her into bed and not even asking where the baby was. What the hell kind of "supervision" is that?

The paper reported that the child had been left in Brandy's car in a previous case, when a passerby reported her in a strip mall. What the paper did not report was why that happened in the first place. Brandy worked with her car all hours, day and night, so she may well have been on duty, with no one to take care of her baby! Who knows? And more importantly, who cared?

I remember when I was a single parent with children who were at least able to look after themselves, tell people who they were, and make telephone calls. Even so, I remember being absolutely exhausted when I had to work overtime! Sometimes I even fell asleep at work!

A friend of mine who knows Brandy personally suggested that perhaps she wasn't qualified for the rigors of her job. Could be, but she had been hired, trained, and put on the job by people whose responsibility it was to make that determination. She was under direct supervision by somebody whose duty it was to know her capabilities, limitations, family problems, and stresses of her work. This is indeed a terrible, terrible tragedy, but I believe that the supervisor is at least equally as guilty as the mother. Yet he only got fired; she got 20 years in prison. Nobody but me seems to think that being responsible for her child's death is punishment enough! I don't see what possible good will come from making her spend the next 20 years in prison. If she gets raped to death there do you suppose the general attitude will be, "she got what she deserved?" Will anybody but me care? I wonder!

This whole situation reminds me of the foregoing story of The Woman Taken in Adultery. Just to be clear on the subject, The Bible condemns adultery. Exodus 20:14 couldn't be more clear: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Adultery was a capital crime in the Old Testament. Leviticus 20:10 specifies "And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."

The story completely ignores the fact that it takes two people to commit adultery, and if the woman was "caught in the very act," her partner had to be caught also! Where was he? Why wasn't he being scorned and humiliated in the public forum? "What he deserved" this is not!

The judge in Brandy's trial stated, "...you left the child - your own flesh and blood - in a car while you went into the air-conditioned house while you had sexual relations..." I have to wonder whether Brandy was given the maximum sentence because the child died, or because she was having sex while that happened - and how, exactly, does the State of Mississippi have authority to impose punishment for sinning!

I admit to being prejudiced. Brandy worked for me a few years ago when we both might well have been in mortal danger. She deliberately put her life on the line for me; I think I owe it to her to do something for her in her time of trouble. I have asked both our parish prison minister and Brandy's lawyer how I might be able to do that. So far, neither one has replied. I don't know why!

Maybe the people who expressed an opinion are as confused about mercy as I am about justice! It doesn't seem to be that there is much "forgiveness of our debtors" or "deeds of mercy" in this case from all these Christians who pray for forgiveness of their own debts or trespasses. I can't help thinking that the example of Jesus is being ignored here. I can't imagine a worse punishment for a mother than being responsible for the death of her child, and I wonder why some people, who never did a thing to help her, believe she should be made to suffer further misery.

John Lindorfer