mercy
The end of an incredibly busy day... I've been meaning all day to make this short post. Call it a "note from the cutting room floor," to quote our current interim pastor -- and in fact, I'll be quoting him again, as he made the statement I've been savoring and intending to share. We were talking about the nature of God in adult Sunday School yesterday, and after a good conversation about complicated questions, a friend of mine asked how he personally comes to conclusions about some of the issues under discussion. "Well," the pastor said, after a moment of contemplation, "I try to err on the side of mercy."
Sage advice from a thoughtful man.
Err on the side of mercy, my friends. Always, always, err on the side of mercy.
Sage advice from a thoughtful man.
Err on the side of mercy, my friends. Always, always, err on the side of mercy.
I appreciate that. A similar statement ("always err on the side of love") has been my response to a number of social issues. It sometimes comes out sounding like a cop out when I can't fully explain why I land where I do, but I don't mean for it to be a cop out. I just mean for it to be a reflection of the Christ I know, who is fully love.
ReplyDeleteI like this, too! Also -- ha. You were commenting just as I was updating. :-)
DeleteThis makes me think, too, of a comment someone in the fall "Islam and the West" LACI lectures at GFU made about the Quran talking a lot about mercy... mercy is so central to Christianity, and yet I don't feel like we use the word as often as perhaps we should. It's been on my mind ever since then, and I've been tickled to see it coming up in sermons, conversations, etc. Perhaps I'm just paying more attention.
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