Reverand Jesse Lee Peterson @ Texas A&M - - A Cry For Mercy

Last night, Mr. and Mrs. Jackalope were at large on the Texas A&M campus to hear the controversial and black (meaning conservative while being black) Rev. Peterson. The jackalope was pleased to see her friend Brandon and to meet his friends at Rudder Theater. Being a former teacher, the jackalope so enjoys meeting young people, especially those in pursuit of intellectual understanding.

Mr. Peterson spoke of his community work with young boys concerning anger issues. Being students at one of the top universities in the nation, most of those attending the presentation came from loving and stable homes. God has blessed them tremendously, but to those whom much has been given, much is required. The jackalope was grieved to see the students' react so vitriolically to Mr. Peterson's work with those not benefiting from such stable homes. Having taught middle school remedial reading, the jackalope begs mercy for those young people not coming from loving, caring homes, who do have anger issues that impede their ability to learn.

Mr. Peterson described how he acts as a intermediary between his young club members and their teachers. What a great service he is doing. For children that have no responsible adult in their life, to have an adult act as a caring advocate is a mission of mercy. Without an adult to meet on an even field with another adult, these children become victims which only continues the feelings of isolation and anger. Human nature is not pretty when unrestricted. The tendency of adults to think themselves as 'virtuous' as they harshly pressure young people to perform 'for their own good', only intensifies the problem.

By having a caring adult acting in behalf of the child keeps those tendencies in check. Even the Psalmist, David, cried out to God for someone to plead his case in the presence of his enemies. This is the cry of anguish Mr. Peterson's community work is addressing. He should be applauded for helping those unable to plead their own case. This is the basic foundation of civil society.

The jackalope hopes that university students learn to resist internalizing their own blessed situation in response to the tragedy of others. Compassion, like sharing, is a learned behavior. As little children, we all had to be taught to share. Selfishness is never a taught behavior. Compassion comes when we can listen to the cries of others who are in tragic situations, without thinking that because we didn't bear that problem, then the problem others face is invalid. Through compassion, the lesson from last night's lesson, would be to rejoice in their hearts to see a man willing to stand in the gap between unbridled adults and the feelings of the young boys who found shelter under Mr. Peterson's mighty shadow.