Monday Morning Meditation #66: God's Mercy Endures Forever

Psalm 136, the next psalm to cause me to pause, repeats an interesting refrain over and over, insisting that God is good "for His mercy endures forever." To whom does God extend His mercy? To all His people, to everyone, no matter how poor: "[God] remembered us in our lowly state, for His mercy endures forever; and rescued us from our enemies, for His mercy endures forever; [God] gives food to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever."

Reading: Psalm 136

Meditation: This particular psalm brings to mind my pre-conversion experience in Jordan. I worked nearly exclusively with a Muslim population; those who were not Muslim (something like 2%) were Christians. Finding an atheist was difficult. Knowing that I was an atheist (at that time) confused those who worked with me. They considered me highly ethical. So did/does my husband, Donnie. Once, when asked by an investigator for a security clearance I needed if I were ethical, Donnie gave a one-word answer: "brutally." Actually, though, most of the people who worked for me considered me kind although I am sure that those I had to discipline did not always consider me so. Because they viewed me in this way, they could not understand my atheism. Most of them looked upon Allah as a punitive God, not as a loving God, and therefore they did not understand how I could choose to be ethical, moral, kind, generous, etc., if I did not believe in a God ready to punish me for behaving differently. ("The Atheist and the Muslims" might be a great book title, should I ever have time to write something like that, because the issues that we had to work through brought Islam to life for me.)

The Christians who also viewed God as punitive and as protective of His people seemed to have missed Psalms 136, where it is made explicit that God is merciful to "all flesh." That, in my mind, would include non-believers, as well.

One of my favorite pieces of literature is "The Hound of Heaven" (Francis Thompson) for it shows how God is not only merciful to non-believers but also chases them back into the fold, as He did with me when I was lost but happily cavorting in the bramble bushes, unaware of what I was missing. If you have not read this beautiful, moving poem, here is a link (The Hound of Heaven) where you can spend some time reading the likes of the following:

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
. . .
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee
Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms.
But just that thou might'st seek it in my arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for the at home;
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!"
Halts by me that footfall;
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstreched caressingly?
"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me."

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to repent all the years in which I evaded God, to praise God for His patience and incredible love for "all flesh," to thank God for wanting to take the hand of all of us, and to ask God to keep on "hounding" certain friends of mine whom I would love to see stop running long enough to see God's hand extended to them. Then I will move on to contemplation, my favorite part of the day, letting God take over the direction in which my relationship with Him moves.

I will leave you now to your prayer and contemplation. First, though, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:

Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I think you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts. (During the week, he also posts great homilies and other thoughtful discussions. I enjoy reading those, too, as do readers of this blog who have taken the stroll over to his blog.)

For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs on my sidebar and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.