For I will be merciful

  toward their iniquities,

and I will remember

  their sins no more.

            Hebrews 8. 12

            Jeremiah 31. 34

 

(These words of God

are our template in how

   to treat others,

    embedded in how

   God has forgiven us.

Forgiveness is how

   we fellow sinners

        love each other,

the deepest kind of love.

God's forgiveness

  brings us back into

  relationship with Him.

Our asking for mercy

   and extending

          it to others

  opens up a new dimension

  of relationship with others.

God's forgiveness toward us

  is intended as the beginning

            of a chain reaction.

Grace cannot help

         but spill over

  and change the world

from generation

           to generation.)

O LORD,

Have mercy on us!

And help us to have mercy

      on those around us,

loving them

          as You have loved us.

Grant to us heart surgery

  that mercy might flow

           through us

    and into the lives of others.

We want to be faithful to You

          in all we do

          and all we are.

We are accepted by You,

we belong to You,

we are beloved.

Help us to translate that

      into tangible mercy.