“Letters under the tree” | 1
In the run-up to Christmas, spazio + spadoni offers “Letters under the tree… to ask for mercy.” Here is the first contribution…
by Francesco Di Sibio***
To the C/A of Mr. Mondo
Via dei Sordi, 11
001111, Mondo (Mnd)
Dear Mr. Mondo,
I am still wondering why I have decided to venture to write this letter.
Letters, you know, are not so much in fashion; in fact, people prefer other ways to express their feelings, their anxieties, their fears, but also their joys.
Here, for a moment, I wanted to talk about my joys in these lines.
The scent of the days leading up to Christmas would allow it, indeed dictate it, at least according to the customs in vogue today. Customs, often imported without passing through any customs, but assumed bare of visas, straining the necessary permits. Other kinds of permits, however, are asked for explicitly, when not imposed by force, for less formal and more painful situations, even when lives are at stake.
But back to the joys, my own, which I do not feel can be overlooked in these festive moments; on the other hand, I do not feel free to overlook the emptiness of joy that envelops a large part of you, dear Mr. Mondo.
So what to do?
I compulsed a vocabulary to try to better understand a term, a lemma would say the good ones, and use it to its full potential.
Here, the term/lemma is mercy. The Treccani first offers this definition: “A feeling of compassion for the unhappiness of others, prompting action to alleviate it.”
The unhappiness of others reigns, unfortunately, in various parts of your globe, dear my World, and at the same time I notice a fading of the feeling of compassion. In our actions, we are too often moved by selfishness to be aware of the myopia that grips us. Of little or no value is the observation that great unhappiness is far away in places never seen, but only imagined after watching news reports. Of course, wars don’t happen on our doorstep, but they are closer and closer now, and what’s more, it’s not enough to feel sheltered: no one is sheltered anymore.
So, I implore you, egregious Mr. Mondo, I really implore you, with all my strength: give room for mercy! It is not a matter of turning a blind eye, pretending that nothing happened or, worse yet, hypocritically believing that no one saw. Everyone has seen that on its way mercy is an underused term.
Everyone has seen that on its way mercy is an underused term. So I’ll start me first, I want to do it, I will do it; at least I’ll try in these days that go right up against Christmas, toward that meek and sincere, no-frills grotto in which a baby cries for the joy of being born and already dreams of a life under the banner of mercy, of that “Feeling of compassion for the unhappiness of others, which impels one to act to alleviate it.”
Frigento (Av), December 3, 2024
*** Head of the Social Communications Office of the Archdiocese of Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi-Conza-Nusco-Bisaccia (Avellino)
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