The Mercy

God told Moses, “. . . I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Rom. 9:15). Although there are some people who never would have, and never will, extend mercy to Eric because of his past choices, God did. The irony is that God even did it knowing that Eric would fail. Of course, that is one of the countless differences between God and man. Eric has also been quoted to say that, “Everyone wants justice until they need mercy.” Thankfully, although man demands justice; God delights in mercy (Mic. 7:18), even when He knows you will do a thing again.

After his conviction, Eric was initially housed in a Youth Development Center awaiting his eighteenth birthday when he would be transferred to an adult prison. However, because of his age, limited involvement in the crime, his academic potential, behavior in YDC and other factors, the Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously to grant Eric an unprecedented Educational Reprieve less than two years after his conviction. The conditional release effectively allowed him to serve the remainder of the mandatory portion of his sentence while going to school in another state, South Carolina, to earn his high school diploma with plans to go to college.

During his stay at the school, Eric did good academically, athletically, and from all appearances good socially. It was a success story in the making, but Eric was still earning his first Ph. D in becoming a Perfect Human Dummy!