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Mercy


Day 18: Mercy
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." - Luke 1:46-55

The response you read in this portion of the text isn't what most would expect from a teenager who had just been given the news that she would be carrying God's holy child. That happened a few verses earlier when she responded with confusion and fear.
What is it that caused Mary to move from fear and confusion, and perhaps resignation, to this joyous song? How did she find the courage to sing, "for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name."?
Mary's song can be considered a preview of the Gospel of Luke:
He has shown strength with his arm
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 
How will the joy and courage in Mary's song inspire you this Advent? How might you draw strength from the knowledge that God is one who favors the lowly and fills the hungry with good things?

First, I would like to say that I do feel as though the Lord has shown mercy on me and shows mercy on me everyday.  I truly have a blessed life.  "For the Mighty One has done great things for me."  Normally the email from Rethink Church comes in the morning, and I have time to think about it even if I don't always follow it.  Today the e-mail came late, and I had already thought about mercy.

mer·cy
ˈmərsē/
noun
  1. 1.
    compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
    "the boy was screaming and begging for mercy"
exclamation
archaic
  1. 1.
    used in expressions of surprise or fear.
    "“Mercy me!” uttered Mrs. Garfield"

Another teacher and I share the responsibilities of teaching the after school program.  This afternoon was my colleague's night, but I stopped by to see how their research was coming.  The eighth grade boys were in search of the "most interesting" articles.  When I stopped by the boys talked about the latest with Amazon drones, etc.  One young man mentioned learning that crocodiles and alligators use sticks to fight other animals.  I asked his source and he shared, "Fox News."  After some hesitation, I stated that Fox News might not be the best site to find this information.  "Alligators don't have opposable thumbs.  How are they using the sticks?" I asked.  He didn't have an answer and went searching for other sites to find information.  "Have mercy! Fox News?!" I thought.  As I started trying to figure out what to blog about, I looked up alligators and sticks.  It seems they use sticks as weapons without grabbing them with their little hands.  Have mercy.  I was wrong.  Maybe I should be more appreciative of Fox News...  NO JUST KIDDING.  



Comments

lee said…
Spent some time learning about alligators and sticks this morning. Pretty fascinating stuff.

That one alligator didn't show the snowy egret much mercy. But I guess that's the way of the world.

Happy Last day of work for awhile!
12:55 AM
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