Mercy Is Infinite

Good evening, Loved Ones,

It is the wee hours of Thursday morning and I am just now preparing for sleep and drumming up thankfulness. My meditation for the night comes from the movie Babette's Feast. In the movie, set in an isolated coastal town in Denmark, a small faith community of puritans is given a gift of an exquisite feast. The feast cost Babette, the servant cook, the entirety of her lottery winnings which would have enabled her to return to Paris and live comfortably. Instead, Babette chooses to lavish an incredible feast upon those who would not even have the least idea of the incredible value of the meal. An army general attends the meal and is able to communicate to puritan brothers and sisters the phenomenal gift of rich food and drink they are sharing. As he revels in the moment he remembers the words of the community's deceased pastor.

"Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another. Man, in his weakness and shortsightness, believes he must make choices in this life. He trembles at the risks he takes. We do know fear. But no. Our choice is of no importance. There comes a time when your eyes are opened. And we come to realize that mercy is infinite.We need only await it with confidence, and receive it with gratitude. Mercy imposes no conditions. And, lo! Everything we have chosen has been granted to us, and everything we have rejected has also been granted. Yes, we even get back what we rejected. For mercy and truth are met together; and righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another."

In these early morning hours hours I give thanks that, though we lose sleep over the trials of today and the challenges of tomorrow, we can be confident that mercy is infinite.

As I sit here in bed and consider my own limitations and my own failings I give thanks that mercy imposes no conditions.

At the close of the day I give thanks for moments of sharing with my best friend DeDe about our day.

In this infinitesimally small moment of my existence I give thanks that, as St. Julian of Norwich said, "all shall be well and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."

I give thanks that today I have had life, and tomorrow, God willing, I'll have more of it.

Blessings and Mercy,
Pastor Rick