Click her What is mercy? Can it be defined, captured, named? Is our experience of it too personal, too close to the heart that it cannot fully be shared?
My Gr. 5/6 class is wiggling their way through the creation of a commercial on mercy. They are trying to make it “accessible” to the general public, trying to find a way to “sell” it. Yet, I fear, their ability to imagine it is so limited.
When I invite them to ponder the “worst” thing they think they have ever done and God forgiving them for that they seem to have a sense of what mercy is. When I push them to imagine the story of the prodigal son through the eyes of all in the story, they seem to get another glimpse of its meaning. Yet, when really pushed to define it or describe it they struggle, a good struggle that I want them to have, but a struggle. I am not even sure at times if I can explain it with clarity, partly because it seems so unbelievable.
I worry: overall do children of this generation already feel entitled to mercy? Do they simply believe because they “are” that it is theirs for the taking, versus the receiving? Have they been taught that by simply saying the words “I am sorry”, no matter what they have done, that mercy and forgiveness from others is theirs?
I don’t know for sure, I just know that the depth of where they are going with the commercials may be measured in mm not cm or meters…they are being pushed to more depth as they review success criteria and realize their commercial didn't unpack what it means, or more importantly why people need it.
As we move through this inquiry about mercy I am not sure yet if they “get it”. Hence, I think they need more stories. Last week in the Catholic Register, final page, there was the story of a sister who had been held captive for weeks in the Cameroon with two priests, and how she was able to move through that experience with a sense of forgiveness for her young captors. Between the richness of the scripture passages of mercy integrated with real human experiences of mercy perhaps the boundaries and depth of our inquiry will become deeper. Let’s give it a try!
My Gr. 5/6 class is wiggling their way through the creation of a commercial on mercy. They are trying to make it “accessible” to the general public, trying to find a way to “sell” it. Yet, I fear, their ability to imagine it is so limited.
When I invite them to ponder the “worst” thing they think they have ever done and God forgiving them for that they seem to have a sense of what mercy is. When I push them to imagine the story of the prodigal son through the eyes of all in the story, they seem to get another glimpse of its meaning. Yet, when really pushed to define it or describe it they struggle, a good struggle that I want them to have, but a struggle. I am not even sure at times if I can explain it with clarity, partly because it seems so unbelievable.
I worry: overall do children of this generation already feel entitled to mercy? Do they simply believe because they “are” that it is theirs for the taking, versus the receiving? Have they been taught that by simply saying the words “I am sorry”, no matter what they have done, that mercy and forgiveness from others is theirs?
I don’t know for sure, I just know that the depth of where they are going with the commercials may be measured in mm not cm or meters…they are being pushed to more depth as they review success criteria and realize their commercial didn't unpack what it means, or more importantly why people need it.
As we move through this inquiry about mercy I am not sure yet if they “get it”. Hence, I think they need more stories. Last week in the Catholic Register, final page, there was the story of a sister who had been held captive for weeks in the Cameroon with two priests, and how she was able to move through that experience with a sense of forgiveness for her young captors. Between the richness of the scripture passages of mercy integrated with real human experiences of mercy perhaps the boundaries and depth of our inquiry will become deeper. Let’s give it a try!