We have all made mistakes in our lives, bad ones that have harmed others. Each of us has a secret place where we keep the memory, wishing we could erase it. But every once in a while it comes out and we feel guilt or shame or sorrow at our actions. Perhaps we comfort ourselves by knowing that we didn't do anything that bad. We never killed anyone, or raped anyone, or committed any other heinous and unforgivable act. Of course, chances are someone reading this has done one of those things. It is likely that everyone reading this knows someone, a neighbor or coworker or regular acquaintance, who has done something that you would find difficult, if not impossible, to accept if you knew.
People can change. Even those who have committed atrocities can change. Still, it is hard to know who has really gone through a personal transformation, no longer resembling the person they once were, and who is putting on a really good show. It's hard enough to know that about ourselves. So we protect ourselves by not taking chances. We don't let anyone in if we know they have done something like that. And "those people" are marginalized.
I know one of "those people." He did some pretty awful things in his past. But this week he was given a chance. This week someone who knew his story decided to give him a temporary job, and is willing to consider making it permanent should things work out. The person I know will start earning a paycheck and paying taxes and more fully participating in our society. In doing so he will build hope, not only for himself, but for others he knows in a similar situation. Who knows where the ripples will go from there. Because the people who take the most desperate actions are often those who have no hope.
Not all of us are willing to take such chances. We can call it fear or we can call it common sense. Whatever we call it, we should be grateful to those among us who show the grace needed to look beyond a person's past and consider their future.
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