Does mercy apply to any species
other than humans,
Or any thing, other than humans?
If Man is to be bound by mercy,
Then, what is the purpose, the need,
for human specific mercy?
How is mercy related to human survival,
to humanity’s place in the universe?
If any species-living creature-decides
not to eat another living creature,
Even when hungry, would this be mercy?
Might any other species show mercy?
Not a trivial question. Mercy may lie
at the very center of humanness.
Mercy may he the delineating-separating
factor of human uniqueness, awareness.
Mercy is, likely, an extension of empathy,
identity with the recipient of that mercy,
And therefore, mercy is-ultimately-
a recognition of our own faults,
Undesirable behavior in ourselves, things done
by us that we wish that we hadn’t done,
That we have decided, maybe subconsciously,
to be wrong! Which turns this analysis
Back on us, alone in our thinking, existentially
alone in the universe … and self-judging.
So, mercy may well be about forgiving ourselves!
empathy for us, lost and alone in our reality ….
And when Jesus onished that
He without sin cast the first stone, suddenly
Mercy took on a whole new prospective … and with
mercy turned inward, no stones were thrown.
A Hill resident, the author believes that the appreciation of art should not be influenced by the vagaries or prejudices of biography.
