And so it is. In the book of Genesis in the Bible God asks Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain has a slight problem here, he has just killed Abel out of jealousy and rage, those old excuses. So he answers the question with a question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" God, being God, is not fooled for even a minute and soon Cain is in some pretty hot water. Cain's failure to understand that he is indeed his brother's keeper is the root of his problem. A keeper loves those over whom he watches. He has their best interests at heart. He rejoices in their success and mourns with their sorrows. Think of a shepherd with his sheep. Or a dog or cat lover with his pets. We have become very good at being keepers of animals that we love.
Alas, we are less adept at being keepers of each other. As I watch the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev unfold, I ask myself, "Who is his keeper?" The defense would have us believe that his older brother, Tamerlan, was his keeper, and did a poor job of it. In an attempt to save Dzhokhar's life they are arguing that Tamerlan did most of the dirty work, came up with the plan, stuffed Dzhokhar full of propaganda, and encouraged mindless devotion to his cause. This may or may not be true, I wouldn't know. One thing is certain, Dzhokhar needed a better keeper.
This brings to mind another great Bible story, this one in the New Testament. Once again someone asks a question, "Who is my neighbor?" and Jesus responds with a story about a kind man, who, although of a different race and a despised nationality, goes out of his way to save another man's life. He was a good keeper to a person with whom he had no prior relationship.
Johann Sebastian Bach summarized the situation perfectly in his beautiful cantata, "Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet." The baritone recitative translates, in part, "We hear, indeed, what Love itself says: Whoever embraces his neighbor with mercy shall receive mercy as his judgment. However we heed this not at all! Our neighbor's sighs can still be heard." I don't know about you, but I am in need of mercy, from friends I have offended, from family members with whom I have been short-tempered, even from perfect strangers of whom I thought poorly.
As a part of humanity, we are all each other's keepers. I am Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's keeper, and so are you, and so is the farm hand in the trailer up the road, and so is my hairdresser, and so is the rest of mankind. And as his keepers, we need to let him live. If there is any chance at all that he could improve his life, make a positive contribution to the world no matter how small, redeem even marginally his terrible actions, then we need to give it to him. Let's have mercy, mercy for a boy who was poorly kept.
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| A young Dzhokhar Tsarnaev |
