At The Mercy Of

Does this ever happen to you? You hear a word differently than you normally do, and then you hear it all the time? The word mercy has caught me this week.

A newscaster said that the United States is at the mercy of one or another terrorist organization. At the mercy of, in that case, must mean a victim of. I don’t like that, so I repaired to the OED.

The OED says that mercy, in this sense, means wholly in the power of. We’re not wholly in the power of any terrorist anything—unless we agree to be.

Later I was reading a coming-of-age-spiritually book and the author wrote that she was at the mercy of God. Living wholly in the power of God sounds good to me.

The word mercy comes from Latin roots meaning reward. Its French equivalent is merci, which means thanks.

I wonder at the usage of this phrase in our world today. Shouldn’t it be our delight to be at the mercy of any benevolence? And can’t we transform any malevolence by giving thanks for how whatever it is might change us for the better?

I’ve had my fair share of challenges in this lifetime. What I’ve learned to do is give thanks in the midst of the things that I used feel victimized by. What happens is that living in gratitude allows the negatives to be transformed into positives.

Declare for yourself:

I am at the mercy of no one but Divinity.

Then expect the rewards that come with surrender.