Mercy

Months have passed and my blog has been neglected.  Enough said...

A few days ago, I found myself revisiting a thought I had during one of Dr. Tom Boyd's classes this past semester.  The course was titled, "Religion & Ethics in a Global Perspective."  This class was truly remarkable, not because of the title of the course, but because Tom Boyd is an exceptional professor that truly inspires those around him to think about everything that one took for granted.

What is mercy?  Is it a quality that can expressed by humans in regards to other humans?  Does mercy assume that one deserves a specific kind of treatment and when one does not get said treatment that can be merciful?  This has been something that has been bothering me for a few months.  I haven't just been sitting in my house pining over this idea, but I am curious.  Can humans actually grant someone mercy - true mercy?  Or is mercy an entirely divine quality?  Can mercy only be given by a divinity or something that is inherently perfect, someone who would not need mercy for themselves?  This is intriguing, and I know it's not that important, but something that I have just been considering...

What does it actually mean for God to be merciful?  I know that this is something that is taught in kid's sunday school and at certain churches, but what does it mean?  It assumes that we need mercy, so it assumes imperfection and the need for some type of reconciliation, otherwise, there would be no need for mercy.  So can humans grant mercy upon others?

My opinion, while it is still developing, is that humans cannot grant mercy...there is nothing that is within the ability of created things to grant mercy upon other created things - they are all of the same creation...but God, being "non-created," can be merciful in nature because of the mere reason that God lacks being created....but this is all up in the air still...

Long hiatus.  Hope it does not turn in to that again...

It's late.