Pilgrimage Ponderings
Unanswered Questions
My earliest memory of Watergate is turning on public television to watch Sesame Street and being unable to watch it because of the Watergate hearings being shown in their entirety. I was too young to understand the enormity of what was happening in our country. And I didn't think about Watergate again until I was a journalism student reading All the President's Men in high school. So I have read with interest this week's articles about President Ford's legacy, his statesmanship, and his courage in choosing to pardon Nixon so that the nation could go forward.
Thinking about Ford's decision has me thinking about the relationship between justice and mercy, and what it means to seek the good for the whole rather than the good for an individual. I find myself wondering if the politicians of today would make the same unpopular decision, knowing that it might cost them an election.
Then there's the whole business about what helps a nation move forward from a difficult time. And my thoughts turn to Iraq. It was a bit of a surprise to hear that Saddam Hussein has already been executed by hanging. I haven't watched the news yet today, but I do wonder how Iraq can ever move forward in a way that will bring hope to its people. What is justice and what is mercy for them?
