Learning the price of receiving and giving mercy

[Mark Dohle]

Learning the price of receiving and giving mercy​

“My love is the source of everything. Did you think it was My pity? My pity, yes, but moved by this love of Mine that is greater than all other loves. I can only teach you about it little by little, because you are so fragile. For you would faint like the beloved in the Song of Solomon if more vehement words from My heart fell upon your ear, and if, as in beautiful books, I added pictures. You’re thinking, ‘He’s talking to me again about love.’ And I’m​

Bossis, Gabrielle. He and I (Kindle Locations 3244-3247). Pauline Books and Media. Kindle Edition.​

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Mercy heals at the level of our
understanding of what that entails-Br.MD​

Many years ago, a man who had a very serious problem with alcohol, and who did a great deal of harm to others, came up to me one day and said: “I have been told to come and make amends for the harm I did to those who were touched by my addiction”. So he smiled, and said “I am sorry”, and put out his hand for me to shake. I thought it somewhat surreal the way he approached me. So I shook his hand, and he asked: “No hard feelings”? So I went along and said “no hard feelings”. I believed he was doing the best he could. I was not that affected by his addiction, but know that others were and did not know how they reacted to his approach. I do believe that he was sorry, yet did not understand the harm, and the deep pain that he caused to his family, and children.

Time passed, it was about 15 years after his first apology. Then one day the realization came to him the horror of what he did. The wounds he caused others, and he was devastated over that revelation. Those he loved the most, his wife and children, were what caused him the most distress. So once again he went to those whom he loved, those still alive, and gave a very deep heartfelt expression of sorrow. He finally understood what it cost those in his life whom he used, abused, and hurt to forgive him. They paid a price in allowing him to stay in their lives, and to continue to love him. They let go of the demand for justice, and imparted mercy. It was when he reached that level of sorrow that his true healing began. It started with his first movement, and albeit his shallow expression. He received mercy because those who loved him understood. His healing deepened over time as his ability to love grew, and he was not afraid of the self-knowledge that finally imparted to him the final gift. An unvarnished understanding of what he did, and the meaning of the mercy he received.

God’s mercy is the same, yet much more. Slowly as we grow in our relationship with Him, he allows us to see the horror of sin, and what it does not only to our own souls, and the souls of others but also since God is Infinite Love, the sorrow it caused God as well. We understand the price that was paid when in love the Lord came to earth, and after all that was done to him, the horror, he forgave everyone. The more we understand this, the deeper we are healed of the deep wounds our sins also caused our souls. Mercy demands that we experience all that we have done, as well as experiencing what we did to others. In that, we begin to see the others are ‘real’, not ‘objects’, or ‘things’ to be used and abused. Deeply loved and redeemed by God.

Love has a price. So does our rejecting love. Choose life.-Br.MD