Contemplation #88
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
What does it mean for us to be merciful? Mercy is a gentle desire for the healing, comfort, well-being, and restitution of even the guilty who deserve nothing but harsh judgment. We are merciful when our love for the person negates any desire for us to see them “get what they deserve.” The humble love for others that we have been contemplating, which results from our love for God, creates such a tenderness of compassion that we would prefer the loss of ourselves for even our enemies. This is mercy.
Contemplation #89
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
If, when we contemplate how mercy prefers healing of the guilty over their punishment, what jumps to our minds are objections, exceptions, and how truth, justice, and rightness countermands this definition of mercy, then we see how far from true mercy we are. It is easy to refuse the essence of mercy because of a so-called noble desire for purity, or rightness, but what is revealed is how much we have yet to learn about humility, love of God, and the love of others. Aspire not to find the limits of mercy, under what conditions we must no longer be merciful, but rather to practice being merciful especially where mercy seems inappropriate. Here we begin to taste true mercy, because if it is anything, it is thoroughly undeserved.
Contemplation #90
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
Being merciful and receiving the same is more than a series of transactions, between us and others, and God and ourselves. Jesus says blessed are the merciful and not blessed are those who do merciful acts. The latter would make mercy a work instead of a lifestyle. The merciful are people who live a certain way, and not just who do or think in merciful ways at certain times. Mercy is a disposition toward others that is loving and desiring of their blessing no matter how much they deserve evil. Being merciful people leads to innumerable actions and thoughts because it is a new nature combining both humility and love.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
What does it mean for us to be merciful? Mercy is a gentle desire for the healing, comfort, well-being, and restitution of even the guilty who deserve nothing but harsh judgment. We are merciful when our love for the person negates any desire for us to see them “get what they deserve.” The humble love for others that we have been contemplating, which results from our love for God, creates such a tenderness of compassion that we would prefer the loss of ourselves for even our enemies. This is mercy.
Contemplation #89
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
If, when we contemplate how mercy prefers healing of the guilty over their punishment, what jumps to our minds are objections, exceptions, and how truth, justice, and rightness countermands this definition of mercy, then we see how far from true mercy we are. It is easy to refuse the essence of mercy because of a so-called noble desire for purity, or rightness, but what is revealed is how much we have yet to learn about humility, love of God, and the love of others. Aspire not to find the limits of mercy, under what conditions we must no longer be merciful, but rather to practice being merciful especially where mercy seems inappropriate. Here we begin to taste true mercy, because if it is anything, it is thoroughly undeserved.
Contemplation #90
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
Being merciful and receiving the same is more than a series of transactions, between us and others, and God and ourselves. Jesus says blessed are the merciful and not blessed are those who do merciful acts. The latter would make mercy a work instead of a lifestyle. The merciful are people who live a certain way, and not just who do or think in merciful ways at certain times. Mercy is a disposition toward others that is loving and desiring of their blessing no matter how much they deserve evil. Being merciful people leads to innumerable actions and thoughts because it is a new nature combining both humility and love.
posted by Greg at 8:21 AM
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