Merciful mayor
THE Holy Bible mentions mercy many times. The Biblical verses have a common message: That we have a merciful God and that we should be merciful to others. To the ordinary layman, who has not read the Bible, mercy simply means leniency shown to an offender who does not deserve it. In short, mercy is compassion and forgiveness to others.
*** I am sharing with you a popular story about mercy, about forgiveness, and about true justice:
“One of New York City’s most popular mayors was Fiorello LaGuardia.
“One time, the mayor chose to preside in a night court. An old woman was brought before him on that bitterly cold night. The charge was stealing a loaf of bread. She explained that her family was starving. LaGuardia replied, ‘I’ve got to punish you. The law makes no exception. I must fine you ten dollars.’ At that, he reached into his own pocket and pulled out a ten-dollar bill. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘here’s the ten dollars to pay your fine, which I now remit.’ He then tossed the ten-dollar bill into his own hat and declared, “I’m going to fine everybody in this courtroom 50 cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread in order to eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to this defendant.”
“After the hat was passed, the incredulous old woman left the courtroom with a new light in her eyes and $47.50 in her pocket to buy groceries!”
*** In this story, we see a balancing of justice and mercy. The old woman was fined. This is judgment. Later the mayor passed his own hat to collect 50 cents each from those in the police courtroom and gave the collection to the old woman offender. This is mercy.
*** There are many stories about our merciful God in the Holy Bible. God’s abounding love for us, His steadfast forgiving nature, and His faithfulness are all connected to His unending mercy. If not for God’s merciful nature, He would have wiped Israel off the face of the earth for their repeated disobedience to God, especially for their sin of worshipping various man-made idols of different major and minor gods. But more important than the story of the Israelites’ erratic relationship with God (yoyo-like obedience), we should always remember that our merciful God sent his only son to die on the cross for our sins
Yes, a day should not go by without us praising God – though we may be barely able to comprehend God’s mercy. But we know it is there.
***
Here are two powerful Biblical verses on mercy both from the King James Version (KJV):
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7, KJV)
*** It is heartening to note that there abounds in our midst many unnamed, unremembered, unpublished acts of mercy, of love, and of forgiveness. And not many of us realize that all of us have vast opportunities to do acts of mercy, of kindness, and of love while we are enjoying the gift of life.
***
Still on the subject of mercy – let me share with you a story contributed by Honorata Vicencio (Lola Nora to her friends), one of the regular readers of this column. Lola Nora is a 92-year-old lady lawyer. Last July 28, 2015, I wrote a story about her. She transferred to me the ownership of one of her prized possessions – a 71year-old antique Bible – a red-letter edition, King James Version (Red-letter edition Bibles are those where the words spoken by Jesus while on earth are printed in red ink). According to Lola Nora, a voracious reader in her nineties, she discovered this story about mercy in 1980. The story goes: In his early practice, while defending before a jury a client whose life was trembling in the balance, Seargent S. Prentiss, an American lawyer and legislator, closed with this touching and eloquent plea:
“I have somewhere read that when God in His eternal councils conceived the thought of man’s creations, he called to Him the three ministers who were constantly upon the throne - Justice, Truth, and Mercy, and thus addressed them: “Shall we make man?” Then said Justice, “O God, make him not, for he will trample upon Thy laws.” Then said Truth, “O God, make him not, for he will pollute Your sanctuaries.”
“Then Mercy, dropping on her knees and looking up through her tears, exclaimed, “O God, make him. I will watch over him through all the dark paths he may have to tread.” Then God made man and said to him: “Thou art the Child of Mercy.
Go and deal in mercy with thy brother.” – Hiller H. Straton
*** This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis Villafuerte, 5233 Fahrenheit St., Palanan, Makati City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano Bible that is preferred.