What is the dumbest phrase in the English language? In a moment.
As I grew up I learned the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. As a young man, the world was very black and white. Young men can think like that. I remember discussing politics and religion with my father when I was a young firebrand. While my father and I shared most beliefs, he seemed less willing than I to call all those who held opinions and acted in opposition to the truth names, names like ‘evil.’ I did. My father didn’t. He would often say cryptic things like, “There but for the mercy of God.” “But Dad, the things they do and say are evil. I would never do that.” He would look at me and repeat, “But for the mercy of God.”
As I grow older, I realize that what I once mistook for softness was a strength I didn’t understand. Mercy. When I was young, like Hugo’s Javert, I found mercy hard to understand. It makes a lot more sense to me now because I know much better what I am, a sinner in need of mercy.
Mercy is a gift, a grace. But as with all free gifts, easily rejected. The value of things is often revealed in loss.
As I lost my innocence and with no possible way to restore it on my own, the value of mercy became more evident. We don’t learn mercy, it is a grace, but we can learn the value of it.
Among the ‘hard sayings’ in the Bible there is one that may be the hardest of all, and it may be the one that most Christians are familiar but often overlook. It goes like this.
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive ...”
Forgive us as we forgive. Now that is a hard saying.
As I mentioned earlier, in my youth as I reviled those in opposition to the truth, my father would give gratitude for the mercy of God. I have learned many things as I have aged, chief among them is that there is nary a sin conceived in the mind of the devil of which I would not be capable were it not for the mercy of a good God. I need that mercy.
So I understand my father now, when he prayed to be forgiven as he forgave, he knew what that meant. He, like me, was a sinner in need of a mercy he could not merit.
So what have I learned in all these years? I have learned what the dumbest phrase in the English language is ...
“I would never do that.”
Mercy.
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Beautiful, Pat! It is a much needed reminder in these days of sound bytes and name-calling. Each of us is capable of the unthinkable…but for the grace of God.
Reminds me of the old adage - “Never say never, always avoid always!”
I was never going to have as many kids as my Mom and Dad did - I am one of 10, I am now parenting 11!
And as for always - the only thing I always do - like you - is ask God for His mercy!
yep
And yet that phrase is so often true.
For example, if I had been present at the Crucifixion, I have no doubt I would not have behaved as the Romans and Pharisees behaved. I have eery reason to believe I would have behaved much worse. Part of the story of the Crucifixion is that it was the work of the “best” of the Jews and the “best” of the Gentiles.
There are many other sins I almost certainly would not commit—well, not EXACTLY. I might violate the same commandment, but it would be in a way that fits my personality and temptations. The thing to bear in mind is that just because my sins feel more “natural” to me than someone else’s “outrageous” sins does not mean that my sins are in fact less serious.
well put, words to live by.
Beautifully said….
“For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.”
G. K. Chesterton
The word “dumb” means unable to speak. So a phrase can’t be dumb. It can be ignorant, false, stupid or silly. It can’t be dumb!
But evil needs to be called out as evil. Are there evils in other people? Yes. Are there evils in me? Yes. We shouldn’t be ashamed of calling a spade a spade. In fact we’re admonished to do so. Mercy comes to the meek who see that they are unworthy.
As for “I would never do that”, it is not a dumb phrase. There are some sins I would never commit since they are so contrary to my nature. If I had a different nature, I would not be me. That doesn’t mean I’m sin free, it just means that I am vulnerable to other sins. Other people are the same.
Please read Victor Frankl’s book “Man’s search for meaning” about the experiences of people in the concentration camps. People lost everything, but not everyone turned into animals…some showed true saintliness. But I’m willing to bet that if you took those saints and placed them in comfort, they would likely have vices that the people who turned into animals would not have. We all have different natures and thus different vulnerabilities to different sins.
Anil Wang, you missed the point. “But for the mercy of God” I would have a different nature, one susceptible to this occasion of sin, or that occasion of sin. But for the mercy of God, I would be more frequently tempted by those sins I AM vulnerable to. But for the mercy of God, I would more often fall to the temptations I experience.
http://thedivinemercy.org/message/acts/
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