the fight for Justice … (07/15/13)
We’ve heard a lot about Trayvon Martin recently — how he was an upstanding citizen, how he was a good student, how he was a good friend, how he was a good son … how tragic and patently unjust it is for such a fine young man to be gunned down at such a young age.
Yesterday, George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon. And, since many feel as though their justice system failed to bring Mr. Zimmerman to “justice”, they have begun to attack him on their own.
Fair enough …
And yet, before you do so as well, please consider the following: George Zimmerman is also an upstanding member of his community. George Zimmerman (a multi-racial registered Democrat, no less) also feels shame & guilt when he makes mistakes. George Zimmerman, despite this tragic death to which he most certainly contributed, is also a good man.
God Bless Mr. Zimmerman … There is no doubt that his Soul is suffering over this tragedy. The last thing he needs is others condemning him more than he has already condemned himself.
We all have so many stones to throw at those who have done wrong in our lives, and yet we forget so easily that so many other stones are being reasonably aimed our way as well.
Criticism and condemnation have never made anyone better, my Friends, and they have never soothed the deeper wounds of any loss. Rather, all those stones do is encourage the one we are punishing to defend himself and perpetrate again in the future. This is as true for george Zimmerman as it is for anyone else who feels attacked.
On the other hand, if we have the humility to get our judgement of this particular sin out of the way, George Zimmerman’s path will be free to one day atone for whatever he truly did (for only he knows that Truth). Only then will he have an open door to reflect upon the mistake he made and be able to find a way to absolve himself of his tragic mistake. But for him to be able to do so, we have to first remove the stumbling block of our own condemnation from his path.
The punishing stones of rage and judgment, while understandable, have never brought real Justice to life. Only the courage of a heart that forgives the doer of the deed (even while condemning the deed done) will bring us the change we long to see.
So as we go forth into our new day, let us all remember that every time the actions of another invoke an emotional response in us, it is a call for us to look into OUR own mirrors before showing the perpetrator their own; to remove the beam from OUR own eye before trying to pull the splinter from the eye of that other.
As such, please join me in doing something that will actually help bring real Justice to this situation — please join me in sending George Zimmerman immense waves of Compassion & Forgiveness today.
The Soul of Mr. Zimmerman will thank you … and your own Soul will thank you as well.
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