We Need More Mercy in the World — Show More Mercy for Yourself
You’re only human, after all.
I was listening to an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert when she said something that stopped me in my tracks.
“Anytime I get a chance to talk to people on the subject of mercy, I just want to put in a word for it. Because I believe that we live in a merciless culture, and I believe that we are merciless to ourselves, and I believe that we are very often merciless to each other. But most merciless to ourselves because we’ve been taught to be.”
I heard her say the words “…I believe that we live in a merciless culture…” and I stopped in my tracks because she was right. I’m always hearing talk of compassion.
But mercy?
Mercy seems like a more powerful word, an active word. And I started to wonder, what is the difference between compassion and mercy?
Let’s take a look at the definitions.
Compassion: N — Sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
Mercy: N — Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. Also: lenient or compassionate treatment.
