Mercy is Justice

It’s easy to say “there’s a government program for that, there are government programs everywhere, no one dies of poverty in the United States,” until you’re the one who’s dying.

It’s time to put our words aside and act. Never mind whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat; these aren’t your god. Your God is crying out to you in the tabernacle of your neighbor. Help Him. Where you find Him chained, break the chains. Never mind about capitalism or socialism, which is the devil and which is God, because neither is a god and both are used by the Evil One.  Your God is enthroned in the beggar. Where you see Him, feed Him. When you see that a law, or something that’s permitted by law, something that’s celebrated by your pet candidate or something that you think should work well in theory is, in actuality, squeezing the life out of the beggar, fight against that. Break it to dust like the idol it is, drink the dust, do penance, and help your neighbor.

Nations will come and go. Help your neighbor. Ideologies which made perfect sense at the time will be proven false. Help your neighbor. Idols will be raised up, stones will smash them and mountains will take their place. Help your neighbor. Dragons will demand to be worshiped until they are killed by prophets. Help your neighbor.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Suppose, for a minute, that your theories about life didn’t work out. Suppose that you were pushed into a bad decision because there wasn’t a good one. Suppose that there was a good decision but you’d been tricked into the bad one. How would you like the more fortunate person to treat you? What would you fantasize about happening, even if you didn’t deserve it and even if you were ashamed to ask? Do that. That’s justice. Mercy is justice. That is the law and the prophets.

If you want a place to start, you could click on the link I embedded above and check out the work The Friendship Room is doing. But whatever you do, cast down your idols and cast them down today. We will all be proven wrong, about the way we think the world works. The world is bigger than any of us, and Justice is bigger still. Do mercy, now. Choose life, now, while there’s still time.