Hallelujah Anyway . Anne Lamont
Anne Lamont would one of my favorite authors and wrote Bird by Bird. Brigham was kind enough on my birthday treat me to a creativity and writing seminar featuring Lamont. Subsequent to which I checked this book out at the library.
A good book, not a great book. Wonderful subject of mercy.
Mercy means we soften ever so slightly, even when the other person is a jerk
Micah 6:8 what does God ask of me -
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and , but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
“Pope Francis says the name of God is mercy. Our name was mercy, too, until we put it away to become more productive, more admired and less vulnerable. We tend to forget it's still there.”
“Mercy is radical kindness. Mercy means offering or being offered aid in desperate straits. Mercy is not deserved. It involves absolving the unabsolvable, forgiving the unforgiveable. Mercy brings us to the miracle of apology, given and accepted, to unashamed humility when we have erred or forgotten.”
What if we know that forgiveness and mercy are what heal and restore and define us, that they actually are the fragrance that the rose leaves on the heel that crushes it?
The soul rejoices in something it already knows
“Everything slows down when we listen and stop trying to fix the unfixable.”
“Kindness toward others and radical kindness to ourselves buy us a shot at a warm and generous heart, which is the greatest prize of all. Do you want this, or do you want to be right?
“In many spiritual and wisdom paths, it is written that God created us to have company and to be God’s loving eyes and hands on earth. But in certain African Christian catechisms it says that God created us because He thought we would like it.”
Hallelujah that in spite of it all, there is love, there is singing, nature, laughing, mercy.”
New Yorker cartoon -one dog to another dog - it's not enough that we succeed but cats must fail
Mercy stories - self righteousness versus mercy , lack of forgiveness versus repentance—these conflicts were so crucial
The Prophet Joseph smith reportedly explained that the setting or context of the parables revealed their meaning. He said: “I have [a] key by which I understand the scripture—I enquire what was the question which drew out the answer.”
Jonah and mercy
It is comforting to know that we worship a God who is merciful and who allows His children many chances to learn His ways and be obedient to them. Who among us would be saved without a second chance—more than one opportunity to prove ourselves in the sight of God? The story of the people of the city of Nineveh and the prophet Jonah shows that the test of life is a multipart exam and reminds us to be more long-suffering with those who slip and fall. Jonah tried rebuffing the lords offer of mercy but the lords mercy persevered.
Prodigal son and mercy
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that in this parable, the elder son represented the judgmental Pharisees in the Savior’s audience and that the younger son represented the publicans. Eldest son—Pharisees and Sadducees murmuring and complaining because Jesus sat with publicans and sinners.” The son does not have a correct understanding of the principles of repentance and forgiveness. Yet his father replies: “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
What does the ending of the parable signify for the dutiful son? Perhaps he is like those of us who fill our assignments and attend our meetings, but fail to learn charity—that unconditional love the Father has for all his children and which he commands us to obtain and exercise. For those of us whose lives are similar to that of the dutiful elder brother, the challenge is to learn to welcome God’s repentant sons and daughters—our brothers and sisters—with godly love - mercy.
One must enlarge ones souls toward others if you would do like Jesus. … As you increase in innocence and virtue, as you increase in goodness, let your hearts expand—let them be enlarged towards others. You must be longsuffering and bear with the faults and errors of mankind. How precious are the souls of man!”
Good Samaritan is another story of mercy
The take away for my day-to-day life :
Mercy subset of charity
Need to conscientiously chose showing love
Be a kind man.
