Mercy or compassion is another name of God. When we possess the eyes of compassion, everyone is a friend, a companion and a neighbor. In life we have unsung heroes who have become neighbors and friends on the journey of life. Let us recount a few real incidents. Last month one of the English dailies carried a very touching incident that took place in Kerala. Mr. Krishna Kumar an official was returning home after a hectic day’s task. He felt hungry and entered a Restaurant and ordered for a plate of chicken and parota. As the plate was carried to him, two pairs of eyes peeping through the window followed the plate. Mr. Krishna called the little boy and the boy walked in holding the hand of his younger sister. Mr. Krishna asked the boy, what he would like to have. Quick came the reply, ‘chicken and parota.’
Mr. Krishna ordered for the same and the little ones swallowed quickly and disappeared as the others in the hotel watched with a surprise look. Mr. Krishna having completed his meal asked for the bill and was in for a terrific surprise. A neatly rolled letter was placed before him that said ‘Our machine cannot bill an act of kindness like yours.’ Great isn’t it? Well Krishna reached out to the two little ones and brought about a transformation even in the Manager of the Restaurant. Just see the power of one act of kindness!
Mrs. Sandhya Pai, the editor of ‘Taranga’, a Kannada weekly has narrated this true incident in the Editorial of 7th April 2016. Once an elderly person and a young man knocked at the door of a social worker seeking assistance. When enquired, the young man said that the elderly man was his distant relative. The lady could read the pain and agony on the face of the elderly man. She offered to take him into the old age home. After nine months, one fine morning the social worker got a call to say that the elderly person recommended by her was no more. Quickly she hastened to the Ashram and found the same man who brought him months ago, weeping bitterly. The lady approached the man and recognized that he was the one who had brought him. Curious, she asked, ‘Why such sorrow for a distant relative?’
The lady was in for a shock when the man said that he was truly his father. He had loved him, cared for him, educated him and had given him every facility. But because of his nagging wife, he had lost his mother and after that, the father had to be shifted so that he could be at least sure of his square meal and stay. In the Ashram the man was silent; he hardly ate and had died of sorrow and pain of rejection. What was most painful was that, in spite of all the ill treatment the father had received, the father had set aside an amount of Rupees Four lakh for the son and his children. Isn’t it mercy, compassion that triumphed above the rejection, negligence and ill-treatment?
A friend of mine sent me very interesting ‘two legends.’ Once upon a time, there lived a poor Scottish farmer. His name was Fleming. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby muddy pond. He dropped his tools and ran to the muddy pond. There, what he saw was a terrified boy, caught up to his waist in black dirt, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming immediately jumped into that sewage dirt and saved the boy from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The very next day, a fancy wagon pulled up at the Scot’s small surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of that boy whom farmer Fleming had saved. ‘I want to repay you,’ said the nobleman. ‘You saved my son’s life.’ ‘No, I can’t accept payment for what I did,’ the Scottish farmer replied waiving off the offer.
At that moment, the farmer’s own son came to the door of the family hut. ‘Is that your son?’ the nobleman asked. ‘Yes,’ the farmer replied proudly. ‘What do you want to do?’ asked the grateful father. ‘I always wanted to be a doctor but … we are poor & can’t afford it’ said the young Scottish boy. ‘I’ll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the same level of education as of my own son and I will take care of the cost. I also believe, if this young man is having anything like his father, he’ll no doubt grow up to be a man we both will be proud of,’ the nobleman said with great conviction and that he did.
The farmer’s son attended the very best of schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted…Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. Years afterward, the same nobleman’s son who was saved from the muddy pond was stricken with severe pneumonia. What saved his life this time? The Wonder Drug… Penicillin. And the name of the nobleman was…Lord Randolph Churchill. And his son’s name who was treated? He was … ‘the great’ Sir Winston Churchill. This historical story once again re-kindles our basic Learning “what goes around comes around.” & “as you SOW so you REAP.”(Source – internet)
Jesus in fact was on this earth with a ‘mercy mission’. Mercy on the ten lepers, on Zaccheus, on the Samaritan woman, on the woman caught in adultery etc; all his parables depict God’s mercy and compassion for human beings. One word healed, one look transformed, one touch made whole.
We never know the power of a word, the effect of a deed of kindness, the impact of an act of mercy. It has a ripple effect, transforming energy and the touch of divine grace. So how shall we have this ‘mercy mission’ in our communities? May be by offering a hand to someone old trudging her way to the chapel, someone who needs help to wash her plate, someone who needs company at the dining table. A word of appreciation, a pat of encouragement, a twinkle of recognition, a smile of affection, and an enquiry of kindness- all these can come under the umbrella of ‘mercy mission.’ During this Year of Mercy, may God bless and make us instruments of compassion, kindness and mercy.
Sister Rose Agnes A.C.
Provincial House, Mangaluru - 575001
