Death in a time of Life

I am not typically one to comment on ‘political issues,’ but I cannot fully express the deep sadness I feel in my heart today as I read the news reports from California. Specifically I am referring to the execution of Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams less than one hour ago.
I do not claim to be an expert on the myriad of issues surrounding the death penalty, but what I do know is this: for me, a young Christian currently living in an atmosphere where life is challenging at all turns… for me, a young woman who has made countless mistakes and is trying desperately to learn what redemption means even for a sinner like me… for me, a young stranger in a strange land attempting to understand why the world operates the way it does… why some people are ignored… why justice is so skewed… and why mercy is so elusive…. I find the taking of life hard to comprehend, for to me, to judge the life of another as unworthy to be lived is to deny that person the possibility of redemption.
This the season of new beginnings for those of us in the Church. This is the season of the Advent of a new work by G-d in the world. The arrival of G-d in the humble state of the Christ child turns all my expectations of greatness and Lordship upside down. The life, death, and resurrection of Christ do not make sense to a linear thinker such as myself. Yet in this season of hope and in this season of new beginnings, I feel and I know that the birth of Christ means I had better think twice when I attempt to act as Lord.
And I beg the forgiveness of any who have experienced murder in their own families or communities, but for me, the taking of any life is the supreme example of taking on the role of G-d. I do not envy the courts or Gov. Schwarzenager their decisions. I do not envy the hurt and devastation experienced by those relatives of Williams’ purported victims.
I suppose I just find it hard to understand how the violence of one can heal the hurt of the other.
It seems to me that a lifetime in prison, a lifetime away from family and sunshine and friends and freedom is punishment enough. But when a person begins to reform in that prison, when a person rejects the very bad fruit of his former labors, and calls for a new beginning, a new harvest of good fruit, a new creation of healing mercy and compassion… is not G-d there in the midst of this new work?
Again, I claim my intellectual ignorance in matters of law and capital punishment, but as someone who feels called to share with you the experience of my heart and my soul, I ask for your prayers for Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams, for the families who were hurt by his past words and actions, for future generations who just might look to him now for guidance and reformation, for our government and judicial system as we fumble through the difficult process of holding people in our society accountable to justice (for this is necessary), and for grace. May we seek each day to lay hold of it in our own lives. May we discern how best to extend it to the lives of those around us. And may we follow the example of our Lord in approaching the world in humility wherever new beginnings start. I will light a candle for Stanley Williams today and I will remember all who were affected both negatively and positively by his life and death. I will seek understanding and grace as I ask the Lord for guidance… as I ask, how can we deny redemption to any of the Lord’s creation?