{"id":97874,"date":"2016-10-31T07:20:13","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T14:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=97874"},"modified":"2016-10-31T07:20:13","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T14:20:13","slug":"i-was-struck-by-this-reading-yesterday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/10\/i-was-struck-by-this-reading-yesterday.html","title":{"rendered":"I was struck by this reading yesterday…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales,
\nand like a drop of morning dew that falls upon the ground.
\nBut you are merciful to all, for you can do all things,
\nand you overlook men\u2019s sins, that they may repent.
\nFor you love all things that exist,
\nand you loathe none of the things which you have made,
\nfor you would not have made anything if you had hated it.
\nHow would anything have endured if you had not willed it?
\nOr how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?
\nYou spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord who love the living.*
\nFor your immortal spirit is in all things.
\nTherefore you correct little by little those who trespass,
\nand remind and warn them of the things wherein they sin,
\nthat they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord.\u00a0(Wis 11:22\u201312:2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cGod,\u201d says George MacDonald, \u201cis easy to please, but hard to satisfy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sacred author is chewing over Israel\u2019s conquest of Canaan and looking at the Big Picture of what God is up to in his dealing with all the rest of the human race. \u00a0He is pondering the fact that since everything exists entirely on God\u2019s sufferance and would disappear should God ever stop willing it to be, even God\u2019s enemies exist and are only capable of the will to rebel against him because God, in his mysterious generosity, grants them the power to fight him if it really means that much to them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the deepest mysteries in the world: that God\u2019s love for his creatures is the ground of their existence and that his desire for their good goes on to the bitter end, even if they\u2013like Satan\u2013chuck overboard everything they can (sanity, goodness, generosity) in the insane desire to escape him. \u00a0Ultimately, they can\u2019t be rid of him completely. \u00a0Even Satan is still stuck with accepting the gifts of existence, will, and power from Him, though he has irrevocably chosen to assert his nothingness and turn it all toward war against God and creation (especially us).<\/p>\n

And so God loves all things that exist. \u00a0All things. \u00a0Including those things called \u201csinners\u201d who resist him to varying degrees. \u00a0And to us humans who do not, like angels, dwell in eternity where one single choice\u2013to serve or not\u2013is made by them in the instant of their creation and spells the difference between being an angel or a devil, we have the gift of time and of change.<\/p>\n

And in that time, we have what Hopkins calls \u201cthe millions of rounds of thy mercy\u201d as God bombards us with 7 x 70 chances to repent. \u00a0Instead of demanding seven Herculean feats in repentance for our repeated failures, he keeps coming back with new grace and \u201clittle by little\u201d helps us down the road toward him.<\/p>\n

As somebody who has failed too many times to count, it\u2019s kind of dizzying that he stays with me and doesn\u2019t give up and all I have is a sort of incoherent gratitude.<\/p>\n

And the only thing he asks me is that I have the same mercy on those who fail me.<\/p>\n

So, to be clear: I want to extend mercy to any and all within the sound of my voice for any wrongs done me and to ask for mercy for wrongs I have done you. \u00a0Tomorrow is the Feast of All Saints. Seems like a good time for us all to pray for each other that we make it to Heaven.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales, and like a drop of morning dew that falls upon the ground. But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things, and you overlook men\u2019s sins, that they may repent. For you love all things that exist, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[270,306],"class_list":["post-97874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-exalted-felicitations-of-the-day","tag-scripture"],"yoast_head":"\nI was struck by this reading yesterday...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales, and like a drop of morning dew that falls upon the ground. 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