To Exhibit Mercy

We hand folks over to God’s mercy, and show none ourselves.
George Eliot

That quote brought me to a dead stop for a moment.

Sitting in a McDonalds, listening to kids scream inside the play area, hearing all type of noises around me, milkshake machines buzzing, people laughing, the loud speakers blaring “The Boys Are Back in Town”.  A lot of noise.

Yet when I was ripping through quotes that one stopped me.

Wanna read it again?

We hand folks over to God’s mercy, and show none ourselves.
George Eliot

In recent days I have asked God to teach me about sin, what is it, where does it come from within us, and now, I have asked him to teach the principle of mercy.

How will that come about I do not know, but, I am confident it will be associated with a struggle. Most learned lessons from God are brought about that way.

To exhibit mercy is to look beyond a current and present misdeed committed against someone or to us specifically and offer instant forgiveness.

I am reminded of one of the final scenes from the movie Braveheart where Mel Gibson’s character, William Wallace is about to be executed, beheaded.

At the point where his sentence is about to be carried out, the crowd who has gathered there begins to cry out “Mercy! Mercy!” But to no avail.

Out of curiosity I wonder at the point where Christ was being tortured to be followed by crucifixion if anyone in the crowd cried “Mercy!” It is not recorded, but I do wonder about that and who was it and why.

In my life I want to find the people who truly are in need of mercy and to offer them not only God’s mercy, but to actually demonstrate my own.

JHH