Start Again   Mercy and compassion, given only when deserved by
deeds or actions, is neither. We have learned that we must
strike against those who strike us and that we must reward those
who do as we say. In doing so we put ourselves in the position
of judges. We do not understand our brothers and sisters if we
continue to judge them. We do not listen. We only speak in a
learned tongue that tells us justice must be served. If we stand
against a wall, does that wall bend to our will? If we fall into
a hole, does that hole do what we ask of it? These things do not
understand mercy and compassion, and so it is up to us to lift
our brothers and sisters from out of the hole and to lift them
up so that they may move past that wall.  Why is it that we
fixate upon retribution? Why is it that one deed, be it for good
or bad, must be followed by another action that answers that
deed? If something is stolen, is it not enough that what was
stolen is returned? Is it not better to realize that the thief
has acquired a deb