Good morning. Ronald P. Edwards was in a bit of a tight spot. He found himself in court, again. He had been in the same court only a week earlier and was, on that occasion, very upset with the outcome. He felt that the judge had refused to listen to his side of the story on that previous day. Yes, he had beaten up the individual in question. But, he explained, it was justified. The person he had punched, knocked to the ground, and kicked several times, deserved such treatment because he had cut Mr. Edwards off in traffic. Mr. Edwards had tried to explain to the honorable Judge Joel Chaisson, that such behavior needed to be significantly and immediately punished. If not, it would only be repeated, and no one wanted people cutting them off in traffic, right? The honorable Judge Chaisson disagreed, feeling that his actions were excessive and well beyond what is allowed by law. He was to pay a fine and serve 6 months of probation.
Now here he was, just over a week later, back in front of the honorable Judge Joel Chaisson. His crime? Once again, assault and battery. Apparently, being judged so harshly the previous week hadn’t set well with Mr. Edwards. It “riled him up something fierce” was how he put it. Once again, he didn’t deny that he had assaulted a person, but his defense was also the same, the person he beat up deserved it.
You see, in this case the person who deserved the beating was guilty of refusing to listen to reason. The person in question didn’t care about Mr. Edward’s side of the story and ignored what was, in his opinion, a very reasonable argument.
The person Mr. Edwards had assaulted on this 2nd occasion was none other than Judge Joel Chaisson. Apparently, in that small county in Louisianna judges didn’t recuse themselves over such trivial details as being both the victim and the ruling judge.
Needless to say, Judge Joel Chaisson’s 2nd ruling on the behavior of Ronald P. Edwards was much more severe. Who can blame him? It is hard to consider being merciful when confronted by such behavior, and that is especially true when those behaviors have targeted you.
“Let the sinner turn from their ways and the unrighteous from their evil thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord their God, and He will have mercy on them. Yes, turn to God, for He freely forgives.” Isaiah 55:7
Our God is a merciful God. It is His desire to forgive. It is His desire to show mercy even when mercy is not deserved. Why? It is the nature of love.