The COVID-19 pandemic, the tragic killing of George Floyd and the strong reactions to that injustice have given me reasons to reflect upon my mortality the past few months. In doing so, I have been struck that a common thread of the typical death by coronavirus and George Floyd’s death is that the breath of earthly life was extinguished.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Samwise Gamgee offers these words of wisdom to his friend, Frodo Baggins, as they embark on a journey into an unknown future as captured in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.”
In the face of sin, there seem to be two opposite reactions. First, we might react with anger and condemnation. We might have a tendency to become outraged. This certainly could be appropriate. We should hate sin. On the other hand, as Christians, we also know that we should be merciful. Sometimes this might mean that we hold our tongue or tell ourselves that whatever sin it was is not so bad after all.
