By FRANK REMKIEWICZ
Columnist
My wife is an avid reader of pretty much everything William Shakespeare wrote. As an English major in college, she took as many classes on Shakespeare as she could squeeze in during her four years at Whittier College. Our bookshelves boast the complete works of the great Bard himself as well as several related analyses and closely allied authors. The play, The Merchant of Venice. has one of the classic spiritual discussions of all time. Act 4, Scene 1, we find that Portia is quoted as saying, “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. His scepter shows the force of temporal power, the attribute to awe and majesty. Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings, but mercy is above this sceptered sway. It is enthroned in the hearts of kings. It is an attribute to God himself. And earthly power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons justice.” Within this scene, there is a discussion about justice, which is required by law, and mercy, which is a gift.
In November of 1967, I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on a delayed enlistment. Took off for boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego on January 16, 1968. I was two-thirds of the way through a stellar performance in boot camp when I learned the difference between justice and mercy. Suddenly, lightning struck. In a split second of carelessness, I violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The first step in the military judicial process is referred to as Article 15, Office Hours. Office Hours is a low-level disciplinary hearing in which the person violating the UCMJ is allowed to explain what happened just before being disciplined. I phrased the last sentence just that way because, unlike our regular legal system, military law is based on Roman law. That is, you are guilty until you can prove you are innocent. So, I said my peace and was then sent to Correctional Custody for two whole weeks. Correctional Custody is not the Brig (jail for all the civilians), but you sure can see it from there! Correctional Custody is where one goes to bury newspapers in big holes, only to have to dig the newspaper up to tell the Drill Instructor what was on the sports page that day. Not once or twice, but all day, every day, for two whole weeks.
I realized that spending two weeks in Correctional Custody would probably result in being placed in another recruit platoon, delaying my graduation by several weeks. Not only that. I could not stand the thought of embarrassing my mom and the rest of my family by hearing how I screwed up. I knew I had let my Drill Instructors down as well as the rest of my platoon. I did the only thing I could think of to make amends and get back on track. I wrote a letter to the Senior Drill Instructor of my recruit platoon. I told him how sorry I was for letting him and all the platoon down. I told him how I had embarrassed my mom, my dad, and my family. I begged him to take me back to my platoon. I assured him that nothing like this would ever happen again. And yes, late at night with my weary head on a pillow, I prayed to be “rescued”.
Two weeks passed ever so slowly. The day came when I was to be released to my new Drill Instructor. I was waiting in a Quonset hut set up for recruits coming and going from Correctional Custody. My original Senior Drill Instructor never saw such a happy face as when I saw him, and he “barked” my name. It was only then that I realized I was headed back to my original platoon to finish my boot camp with my platoon and graduate on time.
Justice was violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice and facing the consequences for having done so. Mercy was my senior Drill Instructor, bringing me back to my original platoon to graduate with my class.
Every Christian should know the word repentance. What I did while in Correctional Custody was repent of “my sin”. Violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Repentance is not regret. Regret is a statement of fact. Repentance is a statement of action. The long history of the word repentance is deeply rooted in action. This is a comment I found: “To repent is to regret so deeply as to change the mind or course of conduct in consequence and develop new mental and spiritual habits.” Repentance, then, is the basis for Christian forgiveness. We are all deeply flawed human beings. Christ knows this. We have been unable to get around our flawed makeup since the Garden of Eden was closed. But with the death and Resurrection of Christ, we are now able to get through those flaws. Each time we sin, we incur God’s justice. Each time we repent, we accept Christ’s mercy. We are forgiven; we are restored.
Shakespeare’s question is our question even today. Would you rather have and hold justice, or would you rather have and hold mercy?
Frank Remkiewicz is an area resident and contributes a monthly column focused primarily on faith and religion. He can be reached at fremkiewicz@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
