Messy vs. Mercy

Life is messy…
each and every one of us knows that…
first-hand…
up close and personal.


My life is messy.
Your life is messy.
The life of everyone we know is messy.

The messiness of life refuses to be ordered...
Its wild and sneaky

Its almost like it lives in our bones

And makes its home in our gut.


The messiness of life is loud and it doesn't care who hears...
Its screams and shouts

Its groans and laments
.

The more and the longer we live

The messier life gets.

A news article from October of 2015 made mention of the fact that Pope Francis and some of the Catholic bishops were wrestling with issues in Rome. The Pope’s response to the issues they were dealing with, the article said, was that he was promoting "mercy in the messiness of life."

I thought to myself, “Yup. We can all use some of that!”  Some mercy in the messiness of life.

One of the great Jesus sayings about mercy, know as The Beatitudes, might look like this...when set over against the messiness of life as we know it:
When life was messy and I was hungry…you fed me.
When life was messy and I was thirsty…you brought me water.
When life was messy and I was homeless…you gave me a room.
When life was messy and I was in rags…you gave me clothes.
When life was messy and I was on the brink...you pulled me back off the ledge.
When life was messy and I was sick…you sat at my bedside.
When life was messy and I was in prison…you came to visit.
When life was messy and I was fumbling in the dark...you brought the light.



I think the Pope may be on to something transformational
when he stresses the importance of people enacting Mercy in the Messiness of Life. 
Mercy really does have the power to transform
Messy events,
Messy situations,
Messy lives.