God's Perfect Mercy

Here is a syllogism for your consideration:

(A) God is perfect (Mt 5:48).

(B) God’s mercy endures forever (Ps 136:1).

Therefore,

(C) God who is perfect does not reject that which is imperfect, and because Jesus calls us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, neither should we.

Richard Rohr explains it this way: “God’s brightness does not exclude or deny anything. Divine perfection is precisely the ability to include imper-fection, whereas we think we must exclude, deny, and even punish it!”

When viewed in this light, Jesus’ insistence that we not judge makes a great deal of sense. God apparently views flaws as a part of creation that, when acknowledged and for-given, lead to a greater fullness of life. When we instead judge our imperfections and try to ignore or hide them, we cut ourselves off from the mercy and love that God offers us. We also cut other people off from the mercy and acceptance that God can provide through us, because if we can’t accept our own flaws, how can we accept flaws in others?

It is comforting to think that God’s brightness does not exclude or deny anything. We can accept who we are and trust that even our imperfections, and those of others, will mysteriously serve God’s way of love and inclusion. As Sr. Mary Faith Schuster says in her poem Pre-Dawn, God smiles at us and says,

I didn’t make you Me,

an image is all

I had in mind.

I’ll touch up all

authenticity

when you come home.