WELCOME February 9, 1998 Issue

To Our Readers

Russ Gerber

You may be wondering why, on our cover, we would ask Whatever happened to mercy? After all, isn't it justice that people are crying out for in the courtrooms and in headlines these days?

So it seems. Many believe that justice would be better served if only there were more convictions, tougher penalties, fewer paroles. Even then, some might argue, there are times when the debt owed to a victim is so great that the slate can never be wiped clean.

But a debt that can never be paid, and thus canceled, would leave reform and mercy—one of the most profound effects of God's grace—out of the equation. No matter how severe the punishment for some transgression may be, if we believe there are instances when there is no room for contrition, no room for the creation of "a clean heart" and "a right spirit," as the Psalmist pleaded for (Ps. 51), then justice falls short of the divine standard.

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