Mercy is a word that hits close to home. I’ve struggled in the past with its significance and its true meaning. I thought I’d gotten it right, and then found myself in the midst of another occasion where mercy needed to be granted.
I think we need more stories about mercy. A greater understanding of what mercy means and why we need to have it for those who are undeserving of it.
Just Mercy is the story of Bryan Stevenson’s work for the Equal Justice Initiative and the relief he has won for inmates on death row, intellectually disabled inmates, and others wrongfully sentenced to life in prison.
I read about a quarter of the book and then switched to the audio version, read by the author. For me, I typically fair better in listening to the audio book for works of non-fiction*.
*Most libraries have an app which will allow you access to thousands of audio books—for free!
The key takeaways from this book were things I’d already realized before, but with the image of people issued wrongful prison sentencings fresh in my mind, brought a greater impact.
- “We are all broken.”
- “The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving.”
It’s funny. I went through this entire book, listening to it as I walked Stitch or did the dishes, and all the time I was thinking Just mercy. I’d look at the title and think, That’s right. We just need mercy.” Just. As in the adverb meaning exactly.
It took me until the end of the book to realize its meaning was justmercy. Just. As in the adjective meaning based on what is morally right and fair.
If you ask me, we need more of both.
Rating: 4/5 stars
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