The trick to understanding Mercy is not to think about it too much.

Indeed, it does droppeth like the gentle rain from heaven;  for Mercy is Divine. When I think about it too much or talk about it too often, then I get all mixed up in the mortal emotions that confuse the awareness of what mercy is.

I have chosen to decide that the first step, at least my first step, in learning to be merciful is to Suspend Judgement. That’s the only way I know I can avoid a circuitous road trip through thinking about forgiveness, compassion, identification and empathy, and all the associated concepts that take me down the blind alleys into confusion, dead ends, and just getting lost all over again.

Again, I think that we ( mortals ) can learn to be merciful. By being aware,of course, of just what is going on in any situation.  Here’s a story.

Right up front in my day, today, I found a set of neighborhood Facebook posts. Let me say that this neighborhood is blessed with neighborliness. They look out for one another and they care for one another. They are aware of everything that is happening on their streets . They help on another to solve problems and vet suppliers. And, in a big blessed way, they are constantly in giving mode:  Who wants my child’s outgrown coat? Can you use the rails from the fence I tore down today? and so forth.

Most of all they are careful to inquire about any sort of suspicious activity; this is a neighborhood full of children who can walk to school.

And so in this context, first thing this morning, I found a series of posts asking if anyone knows a “weird” guy in a pickup track who has been seen going through my garbage cans on trash day. Yes he has been seen sitting near the park in his truck. Just sitting there. Someone suspects he lives with his mother in this neighborhood. No one is sure. Should we call the police?

An experienced police officer once told me, ” Half the calls that take up police time would be eliminated if neighbors would talk to each other.”

What would happen if someone would talk/ ask the man in the pickup truck:  Are you hungry? Could I make you a sandwich?  Are you lonely?  Tell me where you live and are we neighbors?  Oh well,  you get the picture.  Suspend Judgement and thereby get rid of the fear of unknowns. Be free to be merciful.