The other day I was writing a document. Somebody was standing by my side and spilled his whole cup of coffee on it. I had done a lot of work. I had made all my markings. And it was all blotched. At first, I did not know how to react. But now he will never forget the way I decided to react. I just asked him, ‘Shall I make you another cup of coffee?’
These are small, simple, daily things by which we can make a person’s day or break a person. If I’m experiencing God’s mercy for my sins, how do I communicate this mercy—this unconditional love—to the people around me? By being present with them, by listening, by holding a hand, by a touch? I am trying to do it in the small, ordinary things of daily life. It’s not about the extraordinary.
When the Lord’s mercy touches me, it influences my attitude and behavior. I become a spark, a way of proceeding. I become a new approach. That is mercy to me. It’s not just ‘Don’t worry about what you’ve done. I forgive you.’ Mercy is not lip service. Mercy is about a tangible, living, vibrant act that forever grows, that deepens.
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