The healing power of mercy

Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice includes a beautiful commentary on mercy. It begins:

I’ve found mercy to be an essential element in healing prayer, and a foundation stone for the practice of Christian Science. The Tenets of Christian Science conclude with a solemn promise to follow Christ Jesus in actively practicing the Golden Rule and being “merciful, just, and pure” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 497 ). Everyone who joins The Mother Church and agrees to uphold these Tenets finds that mercy does, indeed, bless both the giver and the receiver. Not only does expressing mercy smooth relationships, but it also takes away much of the strain and stress of everyday living.

Mercy is a beautifully old-fashioned word for an urgently up-to-date concept. My dictionary says mercy means compassion, forgiveness, or kindness in our treatment of others, especially those who have offended us or who deserve punishment. It also means an event to be grateful for because it prevents or provides relief from suffering.

Jesus reflected mercy, a divine quality from the Father, and strongly modeled it for his followers. He expressed it to friend and foe alike and in doing this showed us what God is like. He reminded us that God “is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” and exhorted his listeners to “be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:35, 36 ). It isn’t God’s nature to withhold good from anyone. The Apostle Paul, who became an ardent follower of Jesus, at first vigorously persecuted Jesus’ disciples. As someone who tried to follow all moral and religious rules to the nth degree, Paul found himself and others falling short. But his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus removed that sense of condemnation toward enemies and toward himself. Paul’s healing of mental and physical blindness softened his character, enabling him to express mercy, compassion, and tenderness (see Acts 9:1–22 ). Paul was able to follow Jesus’ guidance, and eventually wrote that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14 ).

We may often think of other people primarily as belonging to different religious, political, economic, racial, and national camps, and there’s even a temptation to condemn those who are not like us. While we might not speak or think harshly of those who are on our “side,” it can seem almost a virtue to ostracize those who are in the other camp. An experience I had many years ago has helped me to learn some of the same lessons Paul learned, and I am finding the same benefits in my life that Paul and Jesus—and even Shakespeare—promised would come.

One day, I was going downstairs with my arms full when I missed a step and fell hard, badly twisting my ankle. My armload fell with a clatter, which brought my sons running to see what had happened. I was in excruciating pain. I could barely talk, but I asked them to pray for me. This they did, and also picked up the mess. Though they were still just youngsters, I was so grateful for their quick response. All the pain drained away within a minute, which was a mercy! I had more to learn from this experience, but although I was unable to put any weight on the bruised and swollen ankle, never was there another hint of pain from it.

I hobbled upstairs, praying for insight and spiritual strength. In my room, I picked up the first book that came to hand: the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy, a slim guidebook for governing church members. Opening it randomly, my eyes fell on the By-Law governing “unjust and unmerciful conduct” (p. 54 ). In short, it states that if a member of The Mother Church breaks the rules of its Tenets as to unjust and unmerciful behavior, that person could be suspended from membership for twelve years.

Mercy is an essential element in healing prayer, and a foundation stone for the practice of
Christian Science.

Twelve years! Mrs. Eddy must have felt that “unmerciful conduct” was indeed a fault to be wary of. I began to ponder if I had any unmerciful conduct to examine, and immediately realized that right before I had walked downstairs, I had been mentally resenting a co-worker who I felt had taken advantage of me over the past several years. He had invited me to a party that night, and I was not going! I promptly replaced that unmerciful attitude with a more appreciative, compassionate view of this man. And though I wasn’t able to drive to the party that night, my attitude toward this colleague permanently changed. I can honestly say that every encounter since then has been pleasant and respectful on both our parts.

But there was still more to learn. My ankle continued to be swollen, and weeks later, I still couldn’t put any weight on it. I decided to have it X-rayed, and the doctor told me that while no bone was broken, I had torn ligaments, which he said would probably never heal completely. I continued to pray and ponder about being more merciful.

One day soon after, a little cat who had recently adopted us came in the house with a badly swollen foot. My habit is to pray about every untoward event that occurs, but in this case, I looked at the cat and told myself I wasn’t going to pray for him because I was mad at him. “You aren’t housebroken,” I said to the cat, “and the ‘gift’ you left on my bed last night was unforgivable.” He had also been getting into fights with the other household animals and making their lives difficult.

Almost immediately a phrase from a drama I had recently seen came to thought: “But I’m just an orphan and nobody wants an orphan.” The drama had touched my heart. I realized this little cat was like that orphan, and that I did have compassion and a sense of mercy. I rebuked the previous self-righteous attitude, and prayed for the little cat, affirming the metaphysical truths I had been applying in praying about my ankle—that since God loves me and all His creation, He cares for all our needs constantly. He does not cause or allow accidents or injuries through chance or inattention, but keeps all that He made safe and sound through His unmistaken guidance. Since God did not cause the injury, I did not need to accept its appearance as real or permanent. The cat was also God’s own spiritual idea, exempt from harm and held in divine Love.

The next day, the little cat was perfectly well—and my ankle was perfectly well, too. Within a couple of days, I went on vacation and was on my feet for hours in a lovely city with many sights to see. I had not one problem with my ankle. And as an added bonus, the cat was perfectly housebroken after that, nor did he get into any more altercations with the other animals. He became a loved member of our household.

When Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7 ), it was not just a theoretical statement. The healing power of mercy can be practically proved, as it was in my experience. Jesus’ own sense of unlimited and immediate mercy toward those who persecuted him was the foundation for the astounding forcefulness of his healing work, and of his resurrection and ascension. The quality of mercy is indeed neither strained nor constrainable. It is certainly capable of surprising us with unexpected blessings.