MERCY TRIUMPHS

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.  

Taken from Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Scene 1.  Venice.  A Court of Justice.

Mercy triumphs over judgment!  James 2:13.

I was watching a program on TV tonight called Dateline.  It's a program about crimes that have been committed and the people that did them and the people they did them to.  Tonight they were showing about a pair of men that terrorized people throughout the Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi area in the 1970's.  While in Oklahoma they brutally shot a Pastor, his wife and 2 children.  The Pastor and his wife died almost instantly, but the son and daughter survived and were faced with many years of court cases, having to re-live the whole thing again and again over a decade or so.  The daughter seemed to move on with her life at a fairly normal pace, but the son just couldn't seem to get his feet under him.  After many years and two failed marriages the son went to visit one of the fellows in prison, and on the spot forgave him.  He tried to get in to see the other guy too, but he wasn't allowed.  After that he seemed to cope much better and eventually wrote a screenplay about the incident and plays his father in the movie.  The movie is called 'Heaven's Rain', the title taken from this scene from The Merchant of Venice.

I've been thinking a lot about some things going on around me, and being pretty harsh.  When I saw Dateline tonight (funny what the Lord can use to jerk the slack out of me - a crime show.  blushing), I had to take it to heart.  This son and daughter were called upon to forgive much more than I have ever had to.  Hopefully, more than I will ever have to.  And I got to thinking about this quote from The Merchant of Venice.  Should I approach God on grounds of justice or mercy?  Knowing me as well as I do, I think I'll be better off with the mercy.  In the words of the great Apostle and brother of our Lord Jesus, mercy triumphs over judgement.  I believe I have learned my lesson tonight.  I will render the deeds of mercy, for I have been forgiven a huge debt.

Does that mean I have to be every one's doormat?  I'm still working on that one.  Who knows when and where the Lord will choose to get it across to me.  I've learned to stay alert, and take my lessons where He chooses to send them from. 

Have a most blessed weekend.

Much love to you ...



BABY

I thought I would post this picture of Baby to start off the New Year.

Baby pretty much runs the house, except of course for the other 10 assorted animals we have here.  Baby can talk fairly fluently.  I haven't really tried to teach him any words.  A lot of people think birds only repeat what they hear, but Baby is continually coming up with sentences that we really don't know where he has picked them up.

I roll his cage out of the way to vacuum and dust and he says that's because 'it's easier for Kaffy to clean the house'. 

When the phone rings he says hello.  When it stops ringing he says bye-bye.

When someone comes in the house he says hi.

He's quite the little showman.  He loves all the attention he can get as most living things do.  He likes music with a beat and when he hears any he dances.  He likes to hang upside down from the top of his cage and spin around in circles.  We call that 'the eggbeater' because he does that whenever you turn on an appliance like a mixer or the vacuum.  But when you vacuum you have to take his water away or he flings it all over the carpet.  I guess he knows you can't vacuum where it is wet.  I don't know how he knows that either.

This past June when Mom., me and the pets went to stay at Karen's house while mom was having her treatments Baby almost died of homesickness.  So my brother-in-law Ron and I brought the birds home a day early.  As we were wrestling the cage up the stairs (it's as heavy as can be), Baby perked up and started to talk and you could tell he was going to be all right.  That was before we even got him in the house.  I don't know how he knew what the outside of the house looks like for him to know he was home because we never have him outside.  There are harnesses you can get for doing that sort of thing, but I'm way too much of a jam tart.  If he ever got loose and flew away I would not be able to live with myself anymore, so they all stay in the house.  The only time they are out of their cage is when David comes.  That's my nephew.  Baby calls him 'Boy'.

Boy takes Baby out of the cage and they sit together and play for a while.  That's David's nose you can see in the picture.  So I don't know how Baby knew he was home but he did.  And when we got him back into his spot in the living room, and I fed them a whole bunch because we were supposed to come back the next day unless Mom was too sick to travel so I left enough food for a couple of days.  But when it was time for Ron and I to leave to head back to his house I said 'bye-bye' to Baby, and he was eating and he said 'bye-bye' like he really couldn't care less.  Like, ok. - go already.  Since then he has been putting together more complex sentences.

I hadn't really planned on blogging about Baby.  I was just going to post his picture and introduce him.  But I am truly impressed at the intelligence of the little bird, as I am with all animals.  And how they are as inclined to become attached with the familiar as are we humans.

I must go for now.  I took the Christmas tree down yesterday and my muscles are screaming at me today.  I will go take a hot shower and believe that will help. 

I hope your 2011 is over to a stellar beginning.  Mine is looking promising.  And I hope you have a great week.

Much love to you ...