You Shall Not Murder
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
62 Stories For Cycle B
There was once a man who was an active proponent of capital punishment. He wrote hundreds of letters to the editor, circulated petitions door to door, testified in public hearings, and lobbied his state legislators and congresspersons to enact strict laws requiring the death penalty for every kind of murder. "A life for a life," he was fond of saying. "That's what it says in the scriptures."
One day, after a party celebrating the enactment of one of the laws he had long sought, this same man drove his car the wrong way up a one-way street and crashed into a minivan carrying a mother and her two small children. The mother and one of the children died instantly. The other child died later in the hospital. A Breathalyzer test proved the man guilty of drunk driving. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison. His lawyer assured him he would be out in a matter of months and would soon be driving again. As the sheriff's officer led the man out of the courtroom in handcuffs to begin serving his sentence, he was met on the courthouse steps by a group of demonstrators carrying signs which read, "Death to Drunk Drivers!" "Death to All Murderers!"
In that same community there was another man who was a strong advocate for the repeal of all death penalty laws. He wrote hundreds of letters to the editor, circulated petitions door to door, testified in public hearings and led candlelight vigils outside the state prison on the nights before scheduled executions. "Blessed are the merciful," he was fond of saying, "for they will receive mercy."
One day, this man received word that his only daughter and his two grandchildren had been killed by a drunk driver in an automobile crash. He was calm at first, but as the days passed his grief turned to anger, and then to rage. It was all he could do to contain himself as he sat in the courtroom on the day that the killer was sentenced to only three years in prison. He knew this man who had so carelessly taken his daughter's life would be released in a matter of months. He watched helplessly as the police officer led the prisoner out of the courtroom and down the courthouse steps. He listened as the crowd began to chant, "Death to drunk drivers!" "Death to all murderers!" Then slowly, deliberately, as if in a dream, he pulled a gun from his pocket and began to fire at the man who had taken the light out of his life.
One day, after a party celebrating the enactment of one of the laws he had long sought, this same man drove his car the wrong way up a one-way street and crashed into a minivan carrying a mother and her two small children. The mother and one of the children died instantly. The other child died later in the hospital. A Breathalyzer test proved the man guilty of drunk driving. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison. His lawyer assured him he would be out in a matter of months and would soon be driving again. As the sheriff's officer led the man out of the courtroom in handcuffs to begin serving his sentence, he was met on the courthouse steps by a group of demonstrators carrying signs which read, "Death to Drunk Drivers!" "Death to All Murderers!"
In that same community there was another man who was a strong advocate for the repeal of all death penalty laws. He wrote hundreds of letters to the editor, circulated petitions door to door, testified in public hearings and led candlelight vigils outside the state prison on the nights before scheduled executions. "Blessed are the merciful," he was fond of saying, "for they will receive mercy."
One day, this man received word that his only daughter and his two grandchildren had been killed by a drunk driver in an automobile crash. He was calm at first, but as the days passed his grief turned to anger, and then to rage. It was all he could do to contain himself as he sat in the courtroom on the day that the killer was sentenced to only three years in prison. He knew this man who had so carelessly taken his daughter's life would be released in a matter of months. He watched helplessly as the police officer led the prisoner out of the courtroom and down the courthouse steps. He listened as the crowd began to chant, "Death to drunk drivers!" "Death to all murderers!" Then slowly, deliberately, as if in a dream, he pulled a gun from his pocket and began to fire at the man who had taken the light out of his life.
