IN PRAISE OF MERCY

 

                IN PRAISE OF MERCY

Mercy is defined as a kind or forgiving attitude towards somebody that you have the power to harm or right to punish.  Some of the synonyms of this word  are : pity, kindness, sympathy, tolerance, generosity, forgiveness, compassion and tender-heartedness.

The theory of Karma is based on mercy and punishment. There is mercy of God or punishment by God according to our deeds. To say the least,  we are all at the mercy of God because none of us is perfectly innocent and  God’s mercy is like that of a father to his children.

According to the Spanish poet and novelist Seavedra M.de Cervantes (1547-1616) among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliancy than justice. I

t is also true to say that mercy more becomes a magistrate than the vindictive wrath which men call justice.

Finally, this is what English poet-playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) said  in his famous comedy , The Merchant of Venice:

“The quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. Mercy is an attribute to God himself; and earthly power doth then show likest God’s, when mercy seasons justice. Consider this, ---that, in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation: we do pray for mercy, and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.”

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G.R.Kanwal

26 June 2024