Mercy vs Justice

I'm not sure why, but the following text, which I memorised during my secondary school English Literature days, came to mind. Just like that...

Fot the uninitiated, this is from The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare...

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God’s
When mercy seasons justice.

I love the way the opening line sounds "The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain rain from heaven upon the place beneath." I don't really get what it means really, but I just like the way it sounds.

But what really hit me are the closing lines "But mercy is above this sceptered sway...It is an attribute to God himself; and earthly power doth then show like God's when mercy seasons justice."

Justice versus mercy; a prevalent theme that ran through Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about Mercy and Justice, in real life.

Despite what I learnt about Mercy being better than Justice, as a hot-headed youngster, I never did appreciate the value of it all. To me, I was right, and the other party was wrong, and that's all there is to it. The world was in black and white to me, and I appreciated not the subtleties of the world and all its nuances then.

I think it's old age or something, but I've realised that right and wrong is not all there is to things.

What's so great about justice if the people I love are afraid of me for being such a stickler for rules, and refusing to give people another chance when they do wrong?

What's so great about justice if my heart was as hard as flint, and I break up friendships, just because they hurt my feelings without thinking on one occasion?

What's so great about justice if I have no friends, because they all don't live up to my expectations of what a good friend should be like, and play by my standards and rules?

I don't know about mercy being a God-like attribute, but I know it's one of those qualities that separate us humans from the animals. People are people and not animals because they have the ability to feel compassion, and mercy for another human being.

Try being more of a feeling human today, if you please. Temper your justice with a little mercy. Have pity on us poor people who tend to err and do stupid foolish things. In your greatness, remember a little mercy.

Remember, mercy is an attribute of God....