'And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust from under your feet as a sign to them.’ (Mark 6:7-13)
Is it only a romantic notion that Jesus' mercy and patience is boundless?
For some time now, I have this growing awareness that misunderstanding Time, or omitting it from all considerations, is a key element in much that goes wrong in one's life. I think this is no different. Two things come to mind in this context of closed hearts. First, there is likely to be tomorrow, which means, as a general rule at least, it ain't over 'til it's over. What's the point in leaving a sign as directed above? It wouldn't be a petty, pointless gesture. Sometimes we need to be jolted by a warning, such as the threat of time running out someday, and the offer being forfeited. Second, yes, there is time, and as we know, time waits for no one, it proceeds despite out darnedest wishes to the contrary. With it comes change, for ill or nil, and the true danger is not that God's mercy will end, but that any desire for mercy will be stifled by vice. It sticks like tar and builds up until it becomes incredibly difficult to scrub off.
C. S. Lewis thinks of Hell as being locked from inside, and that's how mercy comes to an end - not from God's end but from Man's.
No comments:
Post a Comment