Asking for mercy is a brave act, for one must first admit that one has done wrong and is, devoid of intervention, helpless to do anything more about it. And while if being granted mercy does ameliorate the pain of the shortcoming, it doesn’t erase everything. We live into the future, neither cleansed nor forgetful, but with both the mercy and the thing that necessitated it. In this way, mercy is better—if less desired—than purification because we are forced to live with the humanity of our imperfection.
Nobody forgets anything. In fact, we remember how much unhappiness we have experienced and inflicted. Some of it may have been intended—but much of it is the collateral damage that takes place at the dangerous crossroads between past and present as a by-product of the organic processes of time. There is the new love that annihilates the old; the mentor sacrificed for progress; the nest emptied and so much more. There is nothing to be done about the pain. It is inevitable.
So it is that eventually, the blows we’ve levied as surely as those we have received, go beyond mere bruising. They break skin. And if we are lucky to live long enough, crack us open.
A tender green shoot rooted deep in our hearts is watered by our pity—for self and for others. Despite the harsh conditions, it grows. This is mercy.
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