Bryan Stevenson uses this story from the life of Jesus toward the end of "Just Mercy." Stevenson uses it while speaking of an encounter with a woman at a courthouse, a woman who seeks justice for all people. A woman who lost her own son to an act of homicide. This woman said that all of us need to become stone catchers. A stone catcher is a person who stands between the condemners, who are looking to stone (kill) a guilty person and the guilty party. A stone catcher does just that, while standing in between, they catch the stones so that a life might be saved.
After reading the narrative of the innocent Walter McMillian who had been condemned to death row by an unjust, racially biased system, I have come to realize that being a stone catcher is what followers of Jesus should be doing. We should not easily sit by while many face death in our nation's justice system. We instead need to stand in the gap between the unjust system and the condemned, raising our voices, speaking against the death penalty and allowing the justice of our ever loving God to reign supreme.
From my testimony above, it is likely obvious that I feel this book was wonderfully written. Stevenson weaves the tale of the McMillian case with ease while also pointing out the injustices that exist in our society. All those seeking to know and respond to the amazing grace of Jesus Christ should read this text and consider our calling to speak up for those condemned in our society.
The only thing that detracts from the flow of the narrative is when Stevenson explores other cases in the chapters between the primary story of Walter McMillian. These are great stories. They would likely have worked better, in terms of narrative flow, at the end of the book. The story of Walter should have been told first and then the other stories should have been shared to bolster the case for seeking justice in our broken society.
I received this book as a part of Random House Publishing Group's Blogging For Books program.
