Thursday, March 5, 2015

Have Mercy!

 Have Mercy- as quoted by Uncle Jessie

Definition:  a compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power; a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion; compassionate treatment of those in distress

Synonyms: charity, clemency, forbearance, lenience, leniency, lenity, mercifulness                    

Friday nights prior to joining a youth group in my high school days consisted of good tv and junk food.  One of the shows was Full House, a show about a widower, his three daughters, their uncle and his buddy who all lived together in one house.  Uncle Jessie always had a saying when he got a good kiss or something great happened for him- Have Mercy.  Elvis has been heard saying the same thing in his movies and interviews.  Believe it or not, that has stuck with me for the past decades. 

Mercy.  It is a good personality trait for a nurse.  Imagine what a health care professional would look like without the ability to show compassion, or to be caring?  How would that promote healing and health management?  Would you want to stay in a place, like a hospital, when the staff treated you like a piece of meat?  I shudder at that thought.  Putting mercy into the mix, allows for compassion- a genuine sense of concern,  caring and relationship building.  These are the basis to healing- be it physical, emotional or spiritual.  Mercy means that you look at at a person and feel sympathy for them and you act based on that.   

While preparing to write today, I learned of three degrees of mercy: 1. Acts of mercy 2. Words of mercy and 3. Prayer (to reach out where acts and words can’t).  Acts of Mercy could be as little as a shoulder squeeze to a hurting co-worker, buying a cup of coffee for a coffee lover who is having a bad day, a smile to a grumpy fellow commuter, a back rub for a loved one who is stressed.  Words of mercy can be as simple as “I forgive you,” “blessings upon you and yours;” and “I care. I am here.”  Prayer is an important one- when you cannot act, cannot find the words- pray.  Your Higher Power will take care of the needs of those of whom you are praying for. 

 


 

May you experience mercy today.  May you show mercy today.

“Teach me to feel another’s woe, to hid the fault I see, that mercy I to others show, that mercy sow to me. “ Alexander Pope.

“I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.” Thomas Paine

“A bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.” Pope Francis.

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