How I Wrote Right Behind You

I’m a Court TV junkie and I got involved in a trial of a boy that killed his grandparents.  He was twelve when he killed them.  Long story short, his mother abandoned him, his father had administered a lot of justice with a belt, and he thought he was going to a safe haven to his grandparents’ farm.  In less than a week, he had been given Prozac, had the dosage doubled then been whipped with a belt for “fidgeting” in church.  He was charged as an adult and it was three years before he came to trial.  You look a lot different when you are fifteen then when you are twelve.  How much does a twelve year old who has known years of “whippings” know about controlling anger?  It took the jury less than three hours to give him life without parole.  This child certainly had problems, but he was thrown away.

It set me thinking, this boy was certainly punished, but how much do we punish ourselves.  Will we sabotage our own future if we can’t forgive our pasts?  Can we forgive ourselves and others if the crime is big?  Can anyone really be redeemed?