14 words.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Mercy.

Can one comprehend mercy? What does mercy look like? What does it feel like? What does the person giving it (0r God) gain? How do they feel? It's not free, there is a cost to the one bestowing it. What is that cost to the person; not the Greatest Debt Paid but the internal emotional or even literal cost?

For the person asking it and hopefully receiving it, mercy is life. Mercy feels like clear, clean, crisp water for a parched tongue. Mercy feels like true love. Mercy is the key that unlocks the chains that have us constricted and breathless. Mercy is the sword that slices through our fetters. When I'm asking for mercy, my heart and soul are in anguish. The muscles around them seize up and restrict all of my abilities. When the words of mercy are given, my lungs swell and my soul breathes the deepest breaths it can handle. When the words of mercy are given, sometimes I don't want to know the cost to the other person; the cost when I must give mercy is the torment of the soul for the time leading up to the gift. I would avoid causing anything that would require mercy as I know that process they must go through. Mercy is a great love.

*nota bene: do those who give mercy in the justice system and do those mechanically give mercy realize they are loving that person? Every act of mercy is an act of love. I wonder how many do not realize how much they are loving?*

More to come...