The Way of Compassion - Grace
Have you ever felt like you got something wrong? Have you ever got into trouble and needed someone's help or forgiveness to get out? Have you ever felt yourself vulnerable before a power greater than yourself? Have you ever been ashamed of your actions or disappointed in yourself?
What do we do in those situations? Do we try and rewrite the story to make ourselves look better? Do we become a victim? Do we appeal to another's compassion or mercy? Do we harden up and isolate? Do we try being kind to ourselves and extra kind to others to compensate?
What is our reaction then, when the offended party forgives us, when we receive a reparatory hug from a friend, when that person or entity of power loosens its grip and gives us a chance, when the person that we owe tells us we are off the hook? Or on a deeper level, what if the one who we ultimately feel accountable to, the holder of the truth of our lives, the lover of our souls, says we are seen in all our mess and beauty and potential and we are forgiven? Pretty good right?
The essence of true forgiveness and mercy, is that there is no price tag on it, it is freely given, though it may have cost the giver. But there is something else important about it: for it to stay alive it must move through us towards others.
Jesus tells a parable of a servant who owed a lot of money to an important king, but when he was acquitted of his enormous debt, he aggressively confronted a fellow servant who owed him less. It sounds mad, but unfortunately our blind spots are bigger than we think. Jesus likens this to having a log in our eye. We are quick to see the faults of others but slow to see our own hypocrisy.
But the message is clear, true justice is 'to be merciful as your father in heaven is merciful', 'forgive and you will be forgiven', 'measure out as you would have measure' 'judge not and you will not be judged'.
