Thought for the Week: Put mercy first
Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
feed the hungry;
give drink to the thirsty;
clothe the naked;
shelter the homeless;
visit the sick;
visit the imprisoned;
bury the dead.
That was the blessing I received at a midday service in Westminster Abbey in my 20s. It’s going to be a busy afternoon, I thought.
I didn’t know then that the list is called the ‘seven corporal (bodily) works of mercy’. You can see beautiful pictures of them in medieval stained glass windows and on painted panels around the country. They are there to remind us: What makes me a human being? Answer: Mercy.
An old gillie on Poltalloch told Neil Ascherson that “at election time, a man should go into the hills and consult his conscience”.
It’s election time now. How should we inform our consciences? Easy. Ask yourselves: which party puts the ‘works of mercy’ highest on its manifesto? That is the party which deserves our votes. Only mercy will do.
As Shakespeare reminds us: “It is twice blessed: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes The throned monarch better than his crown.”
Putting mercy first will bring every other blessing that we need in its wake, like seagulls following a fishing boat.
The blessing ended: “Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you now and for ever.”
Reverend Canon Simon Mackenzie, Lochgilphead Scottish Episcopal Church.
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