Infinite Mercy

The Lord is perfect, He is infinite, He is merciful, and thus our God is the perfection of infinite mercy. What does this awesome conclusion mean to each of us in our daily lives? Let us consider that forgiveness is the natural expression of mercy and in His boundless compassion our precious Father has forgiven His little ones every possible misdeed. So perfect is infinite mercy that forgiveness is imbued within every misstep, every error, every transgression whether they are committed by His treasures as the result of commission or omission. If we can accept the premise of infinite mercy there is no act that has or can ever be committed for which the perpetrator is not bathed in mercy, in forgiveness even as the offense being committed.

Infinite mercy does not work only some of the time nor does it have any limits. It has neither size nor shape, there are no borders, no qualifications and no restrictions; it operates always and the same for everyone. To accept the implications of infinite mercy is a tall order and a hard mountain to climb. We see so much evil in the world it is difficult to accept the acts are imbued with forgiveness for the doers. Yet if God is perfect, infinite and merciful, there is nowhere else to go with this.

If we can come to grips with infinite mercy we must first realize we have always been forgiven every offense, large and small from the moment we committed them. Next that those whose acts we judge as being offensive have likewise been forgiven every offense, large and small from the moment they committed them.

Having been created in the image and likeness of our God we embody infinite mercy and as a result it is part of those building blocks that form our soul. We have the capacity to be unconditionally forgiving because this is what we are made of. When we act differently we create obstacles in our life that cause us unnecessary pain and stress. It may be easier to forgive a historic scoundrel than to forgive someone that has betrayed our trust. The villains of long past may be easier to forgive than those that deceive us for their own gain, for those who take advantage and despitefully use us. Yet to do otherwise is an attempt to deform infinite mercy which cannot be done.

So many of the difficulties we face are the result of our having placed limits on forgiveness. Our effort to qualify forgiveness is an act of selfishness that results in bitterness and pain.

May our God so strengthen us that we may go out and moment by moment be forgiving especially of those offenses new and old alike that are directed against us. Let us forgive our self and then others as the embodiment of infinite mercy that we are.