Mercy .. Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me. – Psalm 40:11

Mercy.  Sweet.  Mercy.  This word has been buzzing around my heart lately, so I sat to ponder a bit about what it means.  Without going to google and first consulting my heart, I closed my eyes and moved my awareness from my mind to my body and heart and I felt God’s presence which brought a smile to my lips.  This gift of God’s presence has been freely given to us all, we simple must pause and remember to commune with him.   To my heart, this is mercy, God’s gaze shining his light and love on me, even emanating from me as I am his child, and so are you!   Like a good father he wants the best for us and also like a good father he bestows his characteristics within us so that we may walk in the world doing his work.  We as humans, sometimes forget about this divine gift, that is truly one of the best doorways to getting right with ourselves and living a fruitful life with less of the mental trappings that the world tends to tell us about.   Have mercy child, mercy on yourself and this world. 

So, I meandered over to Mr. Webster, to see what he has to say about mercy!   Mercy is a noun and defined as; compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.   From a biblical perspective we can think of mercy akin to God acting compassionately and patiently towards his people.  It has been a cry for help from God’s people for many generations.  Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.- Psalm 57:1.  We hear David crying out to God for mercy and protection.   How often have we done this!   He is there. 

Often, we consider mercy as an act of kindness or compassion to those less fortunate such as donating to charities or volunteering our time.  This is a valiant way to be God’s hand and feet but can we step back a bit to consider firstly mercy as applied to the self.  When we go back to the original meaning of mercy as punishment withheld, consider how often we punish ourselves.  This occurs in a multitude of ways as it is almost culturally appropriate to be self-critical and self-loathing as opposed to self-compassionate and merciful towards ourselves. Even the term self- improvement implies that we are broken and need a whole section in the book store to help us!

When we bring mercy onto ourselves it is like stepping into a light sprinkle on a warm day or conversely feeling the clouds part in the cool of March to feel the promise of spring.   It is like we are cocreating with something greater than us, but that includes us.. All of us, not just what we do or what we are becoming but who we are in him.   I love how Luke brings in mercy here;  Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high.– Luke 1:78.  Tender mercy, for and within all of us.  Just because God created us and loves us.  New mercy’s renewed daily.

Let us consider some small ways that we may extend mercy to ourselves.  Another word often paired with mercy is forgiveness.  How can we forgive ourselves from any perceived mistakes, misgivings, misperceptions and just move out of the past and into the present feeling that tender gaze of God on us and within us.   In our daily life, it is not a ‘sin’ to include ourselves as a priority, making time for our yoga practice, breathwork or anything that truly feeds our souls is mercy.   We are invited to use all of our tools in our toolkit to remember who we are in Christ and to treat ourselves that way.    Take a moment to gaze at your mind, body and heart.  What does it need to feel this gaze of God and to feel more illuminated from the inside out?  I have always loved Psalm 23, particularly this verse. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. –  Psalm 23: 6.   We do dwell in the house of the Lord, as he is within us and around us, reminding us of the tender mercy that he wishes for us to hold for ourselves because we are His.

Now that we have considered a merciful relationship to ourselves, we can consider extending mercy to others.  Another definition of mercy is that its mission is performed to relieve suffering.  Clearly this mission to relieve suffering can begin with ourselves, offering ourselves lots of grace.  While mercy is the act of withholding so called deserved punishment, grace is the act of endowing unmerited favor.  Endowing unmerited favor on ourselves, self- acceptance, self-compassion.  That word again.  Say it to yourself and notice how you feel.  Yes, you are worthy of this.  And so are your brothers and sisters!  

Mercy and grace are such pure expressions of love. Yet another definition of mercy is love that responds to human need in an unexpected and unmerited way. Can we open our cared for hearts enough to truly see and care for another holding them in loving mercy.   We do not need grand gestures and to stack up points in the giving category, simply being willing to listen with an open heart to a friend or stranger in need or being present to small needs around us may be all that is required.

In closing, we come full circle again back to the One who holds it all together, who holds us in His hands.   The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and filled with unfailing love.  the Lord is good to everyone.  He showers compassion on all his creation.  Psalm 145:8–9 — New Living Translation (NLT).   We are truly held in such amazing love, this outpouring of love is given to us freely through mercy, grace, compassion and kindness.   Some may say, that I have a rose -colored glasses vision of the world and that this kind of mercy is not realistic in our world. I feel that the world has become too much of what man says it is rather than what God says it is.  He created the world and us in his image.   He invites us with the deepest mercy to walk with him.

Final inspiration from performing artist Big Daddy Weave, But God, rich in mercy you came to save me.  Now I’m Alive.  But God, strong and mighty you reached down for me. So, I could rise. Yes, we have a merciful mighty God.  Another verse in this song is, Now I’m breathing in, I’m breathing out, I was in the grave, but God, you called me out, Now I’m Alive.  Just this, breath in, breath out and feel the divine mercy of a God that loves you. He invites you to rise and feel the light of mercy on your face and within your own worthy heart.  This is all of our birthright.

Consider joining me on the mat to embody mercy.