A Tangled Mercy

by Joy Jordan-Lake

You stand up real tall—tall as you can for not being tall—and whip back that hair, and you smile pretty brave. But you got some kind of sad behind the eyes.”

She met his eye. Saw something there so honest, so without guile or meanness, she wondered if maybe it was only the ones who thought they were furthest from being a saint who had some sort of shot at the role.

A life worth living is one of compassion. And a life of compassion will include many tears.”