“Blessed Are the Merciful” (11/6/2021)

(Note: this is the sixth in a series of 10 articles on the Beatitudes in Christian Life)

As an imperfect human being, I understand the need for mercy. Mercy allows me fresh beginnings when I have failed to live well and love well. It appears not only in the beatitudes but also in the primal prayer of my faith, the Our Father: “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

When Jesus adds to the beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy,” He reminds us that mercy is essential for our journeys’ success. We must be willing to grant it to others if we seek it from our forgiving LORD for ourselves. Every grudge we harbor impedes our own journey. Every resentment that we allow to fester within our being obstructs our progress along “the Way” to our eternal life with the LORD.

When I studied biblical Hebrew, I was struck by the fact that the words womb and mercy have the same root and that both speak of an unselfish graciousness, a tender kindness, a display of loving grace, unearned by the recipient. As disciples of Christ and children of the loving Triune LORD, we are called to be people who journey always toward the LORD in love, with love, and through love. Every ounce of our being must be dedicated to that. When we pick up bitterness and hatred, we must set down love, for we cannot carry both simultaneously.

As we continue to seek unity with one another in the eternal presence with our loving LORD God, let us be people of mercy, people who can love well even when hurt, people who can forgive others when wrongfully wounded. Let us emulate our Savior who upon the cross begged, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Until tomorrow, love well.