Hi, I'm Beverley Joy of Simply Story Poetry. This poem is based on The Beatitudes in Matthew chapter five verse seven, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.' Mercy reminds me of the Japanese art of Kintsugi, meaning "golden joinery,' which treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to discard or throw away. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. When we seek mercy from God or a person we have wronged. We pay mercy forward by extending compassion or forgiveness to someone who does not deserve it. Mercy is also a desire to relieve the suffering of someone less fortunate than ourselves.
To extend mercy is to act compassionately to those in distress or hurting, especially when it is within one's power to punish or harm them. The word mercy means "price paid." Show mercy to those who have hurt you, to those who have offended you, toward those who are less fortunate than yourself.
The Setting: The Romans did not consider mercy as a virtue. They honoured and respected courage, personal power, and totalitarianism. Mercy was considered a weakness of character. Successful Romans would have felt ashamed to be called merciful.
Other poems in this series of The Beatitudes are The Beatitudes of Jesus - Introduction, Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit? Blessed Are Those Who Mourn? Blessed Are The Meek? Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst?
You can read my poems at Simply Story Poetry on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and at simplystorypoetry.com and follow me on Instagram.
Thank you for listening to my poem. Beverley Joy
