Love Mercy: Mercy Triumphs Over Justice

I was watching a movie about the Civil War a few days ago, and there was a General William Tecumseh Sherman quote at the beginning of the film, “War is cruelty.  There’s no use trying to reform it.  The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”  It expresses beautifully what I have been feeling like lately or as my teacher would say a Psalm 36 experience.  If I focus on not having a presidential candidate to support and watching my Christian values being challenged as intolerant in the latest Bathroom Bill- it makes me shudder with anxiety.  The losing popularity of Truth and high morals in first world countries sometimes makes me feel very pessimistic, even fearful.  When I feel so negative I like to read or listen to God’s word.  Since, I have been studying the Book of Psalms, I have been reading a lot great poetry commonly attributed to David.  Though, I have always loved the gospels and epistles (basically the complete New Testament) I never really spent a whole lot of time studying or praying the psalms.  Yet, because of my class I have been really ruminating over the Davidic poetry.  I have found Psalm 36 such a source of strength and encouragement.  I guess throughout our history we have been a people divided and always a society of sinners- but God has forever remained triumphant as the old cliché goes He doesn’t need defending.  There’s also that bit of wisdom on the uselessness of worry, “can any of you make himself an inch taller however much he worries about it?”  So, while I try not to worry about the status of my world, the only person I can really change is myself and hopefully becoming more Christian will affect my world.

Back to the general’s war quote, “War is cruelty.  There’s no use trying to reform it.  The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”  I attended some NA meetings with my brother and in the meetings they described three ends to people with addictions: hit rock bottom, jail or death.  In order to get better most addicts usually need to hit rock bottom.  This hitting rock bottom happens to most of us in our lives whether we are addicts or not.  I hit rock bottom after losing my brother and only when I was in the lowest point of my life did I hear and listened to God’s voice.  It was just little weak me and God- I was an empty vessel ready to be filled by Him.  So, when I think of the society I live in I think of the generals quote and I realize that sometimes before things can get better things need to get worse.  Throughout our Christian history this has been the case, people forget what God has done, idolize other Gods and get submerged in sin, because “sin speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts.”  People reject and have no reverence for God, Psalm 36 states, they feel too highly about themselves.  That’s what our society is going through we have too much pride, so much that we feel no need for God.  Yet, even when we waiver and when we forget God, He still loves us, “Your constant love reaches the heavens, Your faithfulness extends to the skies…”  No matter how stuck in the muck we get God is with us and waits to guide only after we hand over our will.  It’s so nice having scripture to teach us that what we are confronting today is nothing new.  Since the fall of man evil has been seducing our hearts and we must constantly remember that God’s mercy is still greater than any sin we commit.  That hitting rock bottom is a blessing in disguise because it gives us the humility to hear God and be molded by Him. 

I was asking God, why I was feeling so negative about these two political issues yesterday.  This morning I realized that it’s because I need to focus more on God’s mercy.  It’s no coincidence that this is the year of Mercy.  Pope Francis in his wisdom, knew that as Catholic’s we need to constantly refocus our thoughts and hearts towards God’s mercy.  When we want to criticize and condemn – we need to focus on God’s steadfast forgiveness.  We must remember that, “mercy triumphs over justice,” that his mercy is infinitely greater than His justice and that “we are all sinners, but God heals us with an abundance of grace, mercy and tenderness.”