Just Mercy

This book was written by Bryan Stevenson and was a great non-fiction book about racism and the over-representation of people of color in prisons and on death row.  Towards the end of the book there is a character that Bryan meets in a courthouse.  She is an elderly lady who states she is not there for any one person but is there as a "stonecatcher".  She explained to the author the story in the Bible where Jesus comes to the defense of a female prostitute and admonishes the crowd to let the person who has not sinned throw the first stone.  Clearly I am taking huge liberties in my summary of the story!  She states her role in being present in the courthouse is to be with people who are grieving and there are stones being thrown at them as their stonecatcher.  I am in love with this term and had a nice long think about what it might mean to be a stonecatcher for someone.  In the story she sat with people who were hurting and allowed them to lean on her.  I think there is probably no right definition for the word stonecatcher but I imagine it could vary based on the circumstances.  It was so moving to think about what an honor it would be to be with someone in their time of need and catch the stones being thrown at them by life.