God is Merciful

I read an article about Mercy this morning that I found very inspiring. It left me with a complete understanding of Mercy. Most dictionary definitions talk about your treatment of someone who does not deserve your mercy, but you give it anyway.

Many of you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan. When a priest and Levite walked by and left a man beaten and left for dead on the roadside, then came the Samaritan. “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.” (Luke 10:33, 34)

There is something important in this parable. The Samaritan does not determine if the person provoked the beating or if he was of his tribe or a stranger; he just saw his need and stepped up to help him. That is true mercy. Jesus taught us that mercy does not see right or wrong; it just is. To the Samaritan, there were no options; he acted according to God’s law of good. Mercy is humanity, compassion, and forgiveness all rolled into one. Mercy comes straight from God, and as His image, we reflect Mercy.

The above is about having Mercy for others; I want to take that one step further. Mercy removes the blame game. Nothing is your fault or my fault; mercy moves us past that. We need to also have mercy for ourselves. Self-recrimination requires mercy. We need to see past whatever it is we are blaming ourselves for.

After years of abuse, as an adult, I was unprepared to deal with life. I grew up believing I was stupid and unworthy. I blamed myself for all the unpleasant things that happened to me. They were my fault; I had no Mercy for myself. I did not even know what it was. There is a belief that abused children are scarred for life. I learned that was not true.

There is a human belief that certain things are inevitable. We are taught by those who do not understand God that things must get worse before they get better. As you believe, so be it. When I found God, I discovered that I was worthy of all the Love and Goodness He created. As His idea, image, and likeness, reflection I found that human circumstances could not separate me from His creation of Good.

As my life started to right itself, I found that what I believed to be true in the past, I experienced in my life. I chose to stop believing those lies, and in doing so, my experience changed, and things started to fall in line with my new beliefs. Beliefs that included anything is possible with God. It was not inevitable that I remain scarred for life. I did not need to live in the past. I learned I needed to expunge my past and live in the Eternal Now. Now is all that matters, this moment in time.

“Predicting danger does not dignify life, whereas forecasting liberty and joy does; for these are strong promoters of health and happiness.” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 240:9–11)

I began to see that I did not need to give in to threatening evil conditions. No human circumstance is inevitable when I acknowledged God’s all-power and ever-present law of good. I started to see that things that appeared to be unavoidable could change for the better. I found that I could not believe in God and the inevitability of human circumstances. I had to choose, and I chose God.

I discovered there is one inevitable thing, and that is God. If I understand  God is the only creator and that I am His image and likeness and that there are not two creations, one evil and one good, then I can witness his creation of good here and Now in my human experience.

I know many things in this world seem inevitable and play out that way. We can pray for the world, but it takes more than one human to effect world changes. But like I have said before, it starts with one and ripples out from there. I can change my experience and help those around me, hoping that someone else will pick up a stone and create more ripples as it spreads across the world. That is my motive to spread the good.

God showed me Mercy, and in turn, I saw myself as His reflection, whole, complete, and strong. I stopped judging and blaming myself by erasing my past; it is not a part of who I am now. What I remember of my past now has nothing to do with me, it happened to someone else, and that person no longer exists. I had Mercy on my past, and I am know free. 😊

When things go wrong, and we rely on God. He gives us courage and strengthens our days, And His Mercy will give us peace.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:7)