Monday Mercies: On Bystanders
for 12/18/2023
Happy Monday! Words to ponder, and lift, in a sense, your week:
death doesn’t discriminate
and it takes
and it takes
- Lin-Manuel Miranda
Why so complicit?
Helpless, or not?
Stop it now.
- Luke Leisman
Author’s Note: these mercies are a deviation from the typical; they are uplift, I think, only in the sense that they are a call to self examination, and a call to action. Each day humans do unconscionable things to each other, and to the world. Need I make you a list? And yet each day humans — each day I — make equally unconscionable compromises and remain silent; we wash our hands in the warmth of lightly cloaked, conveniently unexamined lies. Of course, as the scriptures note, there is a time for everything. But too often I find myself drawn to excuses, comfort, and inaction: peace and quiet insofar as it supports a status quo that supports me. Thus a wake up call can be its own form of mercy.
Have a mercy-filled week!
Monday Mercies use an experimental writing form - the “three word mercy” to share a little lift for your week — a small reminder to keep looking up. To read more about what we’re doing here, check out this post.
Mercies are conversations, something you can do too. To quote my mercy teacher: Try it, you’ll like it. I’d love to highlight your mercies too. To submit your own mercies for potential distribution, email them to me at lukeleisman@substack.com!