Mercy & Pity

"O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity." (from the Collect for Proper 19, Year C)

Br. Bede Thomas Mudge, OHC, has a fascinating and moving post on his blog, where he discusses the effect suddenly hearing this amazing sentence full on had on him. He says,

"Good God" I thought: "I never think of power in terms of mercy and pity. I think of power in terms of getting what I want. I think of power as the ability to Get Things Done. I think of power as the ability to run straight over any opposition. I think of power in lots of ways. But I never think of power as being merciful and showing pity."

What made this such a stunning moment, I think, was my body. I wasn't just thinking this dilemma, I was feeling it, and I was feeling it in my body. For some reason, when the officiant of that office sang the words "your almighty power" I really felt that power - or at least what my senses think of as power. And I was wrapped up in feeling my version of God's power when the words "mercy and pity" came along, and they completely toppled me off my (intellectual) horse. Because power - the power I think about with my mind and feel with my body, has to do with a lot of things, but not with mercy. Not with pity.

But God's power has everything to do with mercy and pity. That's what the collect says. And if that is true, I have a lot of work to do.

Do go and read the whole thing... a profound, and profoundly honest, bit of writing. But I will make one little connection here that Br. Bede Thomas doesn't make - it isn't really part of what he's working towards - that suddenly struck me as I read his words. I have often written here and on The Mercy Site about the power that there is in the simple little Jesus Prayer, and how it flows out into intercession, ultimately into intercession for the whole of Creation (Romans 8.19-27) The power of the Jesus Prayer, apart from its Trinitarian* nature, lies in the word "mercy." "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

In the Prayer I ask for mercy. I know that, as I ask it from, and in the name of, Jesus, I receive it in the very act of asking. This is a sacramental act, with implications far beyond the little pocket of time and place where it is being prayed. But it's not just me that receives it. What affects me affects Creation. The mercy that is poured out on me overflows to all Creation. In some extraordinary way that I can take no credit for, the Creation is being loved through me. That is surely the power Br. Bede Thomas is writing about.

* The Jesus Prayer is one which is slowly repeated. It is not a mantra, but a definite invocation to the Son of God. Being explicitly addressed to the Second Person of the Trinity, the First Person is implicitly included. Moreover, St Paul writes that no-one can call Jesus ‘Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor: 1-23). Thus the Jesus Prayer is Trinitarian. (Br. Brian SSF New Zealand)