During my sabbatical last Fall, God brought to mind a portion of Scripture that I had memorized during a vacation in the Fall of 1997. It is Proverbs 3:3-4:
Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
It’s a section of Scripture that has been near and dear to my heart ever since...however, it hasn’t been at the forefront recently.
Mercy and truth are funny things that, in my opinion, we as human beings just can’t fully wrap our brains around. Mercy? Mercy? Mercy like Jesus has shown me mercy? I’m to live my life with mercy bound around my neck and written on my heart. As visible as my favorite necklace and as important to life as the beating of my heart. When I think about this, I am less than enthused. I am not always the most merciful person. I have my moments of mercy-filled living; but the number of them isn’t as great as I’d like them to be (and not as great as I believe God would like them to be). Sometimes I have more mercy for other people’s kids than I do mine. Ouch.
The idea of truth being such an integral part of my life is painful when compared to the amount of times I’ve felt the need to “put on a brave face”. We’re taught that, aren’t we? We suck it up with our stiff upper lips until we can repress no more and then WHAM! We blow up and send the ones we love the most reeling. What if you and I lived in truth (the good, the bad, and the ugly) everyday? What if we were truthful when we felt this way or that way or didn’t like this or that? What if we just said it? How good would that feel? How freeing? How revolutionary.
God knows. He wants us to live like that. I’m not advocating the notion that God just wants us to blurt out every little thing that crosses our minds without regard to those who have to hear it. But I am saying that perhaps God advises us to live in mercy and truth because it’s the best way to live and breath and face moments that are happy or sad or difficult. The best way for us to live no matter what we are facing. Mercy and truth.
I have a dear friend who, as I’ve observed her daily comings and goings, has taught me about centeredness. She is a centered person. To best understand the idea of centeredness, think of a child’s spinning top. Remember playing with one of those? Spin it just right and it spins on its’ point for what seems like endless moments. We hover over it, watching it spin with joy and wonder. How exactly does it do that? But start it off spinning just slightly leaning and the top can start to wobble and then spin in a wonky fashion until it starts to skip and stutter and it finally lands with a thud in the corner. It’s not as much fun to watch a top when it’s not centered. It’s not much fun being a human being who is not centered, either.
Ever felt like a top that’s been started off incorrectly? All wobbly and wonky and careening into objects and people that you never meant to hurt in the first place? Yep, me too. I think we all have...even my dear friend. She would be the first to tell you that she is human and she has been there. It seems to me that Proverbs 3:3-4 is the perfect prescription for the balanced life. If we embrace mercy and truth...and allow God to weave it into the very core of who we are... we’re bound to live a centered, balanced, gracious life. If we have equal heaping helpings of mercy and truth, we will surely look and sound and behave and interact with others the way God wants us to. If we embrace truth without mercy (which really isn’t living truthfully, is it?), our lives will be out of balance. If we try to be merciful people without living and loving authentically, then we are at risk of merely putting on a show for others. That looks really good from the outside, but it it’s really hard to maintain and keep everything straight when you’re not living out of truth. And that’s no way to live, is it?
Mercy and truth...from the very core of who we are. The centered life God planned for us.
