Who could honestly denounce another
if it was admitted that all he had done
was make a mistake?
Instead, the other is seen
as selfish and internally dark,
a thing unworthy of life,
to be attacked and weakened.

To have any hope of happiness,
we must first recognize those times
we are afraid
of the innocence of others.
They are the same moments
as when we ourselves
resist feeling gentle and free.
We mistakenly believe
that our sense of self-worth
comes from how we compare to others,
and that to see them as innocent
would reflect badly on us.

So we remain hard and exacting
in order not to allow
any evidence of guilt
to go unnoticed.
But our fear of the sinlessness
of what God has created
also leaves no possibility
of recognizing our own
inherent worthiness.