Day 241: The Fluctuating Price and Exchange Rates of Justice

If a dog pees on the carpet, do we stay mad at it for years? A lifetime?

But what if it tore apart your favorite shoes?

How about then?

Or maybe it scratched your daughter as they played in the yard

A yard full of holes dug up from it curiosity and frustration

Is the dog punished?

Most likely so.

Then afterward, we love the dog again.

After all, it is bound to make mistakes

It doesn’t know any better.

So, if are able to forgive a dog countless times in its short life

Why are we unable to do that for ourselves? For our friends and family and enemies?

After all, they’re only human.

Are the scars different?

Do the misdeeds and mistakes seem like personal attacks?

Maybe the dog dug the holes because it likes to watch you fill them in again

Maybe it pissed on the carpet out of spite of leaving it home alone

Assuming the intention of fault is the easiest way to feel

Our natural instinct

It’s harder to think of all creatures as innocent or ignorant

We have to fight the mind to believe humans are capable of better

But no matter the crime, everyone deserves a chance to earn forgiveness