Introduction: You are more
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy, p. 17
This summer, I had the immense pleasure of interning for a federal judge. A large part of my internship was to observe anything that took place in the courtroom. This included criminal sentencing. This was the part of the job I was least looking forward to. As an aspiring public defender and current criminal justice reform advocate, the idea of watching people being sentenced to prison had always left a bad taste in my mouth. However, I will never forget the time that, during one sentencing, the judge quoted Bryan Stevenson, saying, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” This line stuck with me the first time I read it, but it will never mean the same after hearing a judge say it to a convicted criminal, encouraging him to not let his conviction define the rest of his life. If this is not the exact definition of just mercy, I am not sure what is.
Think for a minute about who Jesus surrounded himself with. We hear in the Gospels about how Jesus would preach to the tax collectors and sinners, but do we really think about that? When we do process that Jesus went out to the margins, do we feel called to follow the example? How many people do we look at as Jesus did and remember that they are more than the worst thing they have ever done? Who do we refuse to see as more than the sum of their actions? Who do we hold grudges against?
When we mess up, how long do we let our mistakes ruminate in our minds before we are willing to forgive ourselves? How many times do we drive ourselves crazy with regrets and pain? Say it aloud. I am more than the worst thing I have ever done.
Being merciful does not mean pretending that nothing happened. It does not mean that we have to let people walk all over us. But just mercy—the type of mercy we see from Jesus, the mercy that we should strive for during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and the mercy that is the center of this book—is based on this central, very significant sentence. Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
Maggie Larin
Maggie is a Junior at the University of Michigan studying Sociology with a focus in Law, Justice, and Social Change. She hopes to one day become a criminal defense attorney, defending those without representation and, if the need continues, those on death row.