Have Mercy upon us all...

So the subject for this weekend is "Mercy". I truly do believe that God's mercy is all around us all the time. Think about that... what an absolute blessing that is! God's mercy showering down upon us - all of us - all the time! And to me, the Word of God, from all the heavenly Manifestations, which is what this blog is about, is that Mercy.

"...it is evident that the divine teachings are the heavenly grace and the showers of the mercy of God, which purify the hearts of men." (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 333)

However, I feel that, sometimes, I am not always "open" to these merciful blessings. The divine teachings were sent by God so that we can strive to purify our hearts and souls and grow closer to Him. And we grow closer to Him by putting His teachings into action. If I am not interested in the blessings of the divine teachings or am just too caught up in this material existence to put them into practice, then I won't be able to benefit from this wonderful and precious Mercy from God.

"O SON OF BEING! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant." (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

But today, on my 40th Birthday, I am very aware of the mercies from God that has brought me to this place in my life. There are many things that came together to enable me to reach this level of understanding on my journey and I am thankful for every one of them (My mom and dad, Jeremy, my friends, my home, my life experiences). Now, it is just a matter of keeping myself aligned with the principles that I have learned so that the showers of God's mercy can continue to refresh and gladden me! Here are some more writing on mercy from world religions...

"His Holiness (Christ) declared that the Father "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." The meaning of this declaration is that the mercy of God encircles all mankind; that not a single individual is deprived of the mercy of God; and no soul is denied the resplendent bestowals of God." (Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 105)

"52:7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

52:9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints." (King James Bible, Psalms)

"7,9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God; the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations" (Torah (Law), Devarim (Deuteronomy))

"And do not evil in the earth after it has been righted; and call upon Him with fear and earnestness; verily, the mercy of God is nigh unto those who do well." (The Qur'an (E.H. Palmer tr), Sura 7 - Al Aaraf)

"7. Praise be to the merciful Lord who bestows rewards for meritorious
deeds on those who obey his commands according to his will, and
at last will liberate even the wicked from (the torture of) hell
and will embellish with purity the whole creation." (The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta - Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)