One of the most powerful expressions of love is mercy. Properly understood, mercy is not a dry, legal decree of innocence handed down from the heavenly courts. Rather, mercy is a river of divine energy that liberates us from the guilt of past sins. Thus, mercy trumps karma, but only if we allow mercy to be the guiding force in our lives. Mercy is a force that empowers us to think thoughts we have never before thought, to dream dreams we have never before dreamed, and to live lives we have never before lived.
God’s mercy is always being given at all times if we are receptive to it; and receptivity begins with the heartfelt acknowledgement that we are in need of mercy. Yet I am not encouraging people to beat their breasts in a wave of religious guilt! Opening ourselves to the flow of mercy is simply about admitting that we have cracks in our amour, our imagined self-sufficiency, our judgments, and our ability to live up to our noble ideals. The paradox is that when we own those cracks, they become portals through which mercy can flood our hearts. Once when Yogananda was a young boy and missing his own mother who had died, he fervently desired a message from the Divine Mother. As he meditated in the tiny attic of his home, she suddenly appeared before him. Yogananda recounts that moment in this way: “Haloed in splendor, the Divine Mother stood before me. Her face, tenderly smiling, was beauty itself. ‘Always have I loved thee! Ever shall I love thee!’ Her celestial tones still ringing in my ear, she disappeared.” What is true for Yogananda is true for all of us.
Always have I loved thee!
Ever shall I love thee!
