Climbing the tree of mercy

What can compare to God's mercy? As human beings it sometimes is difficult to comprehend. Today's Wisdom passage tells us that "Because you (God) has mercy on all,  because you can do all things. "  Again we are reminded in the Psalm response" The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness." My struggle is accepting this.

As one who has fallen into the darkness of sin and will continue to fall how is it that God accepts me in my brokenness? In my lowest points of my life I was convinced that God did not care about my trials and tribulations.  What I failed to realize is that God always allows the freedom of choice and once I made the decision to follow Him that I would better understand the concept of mercy.  My journey to accepting God's mercy is comparable to that of Zacchaeus climbing the tree. Always feeling unworthy and short I was climbing a tree toward a better view of Jesus not knowing why I was climbing.  Sometimes I would slip and fall as the branches were weak and brittle. Downward I plunged but I always able to grasp another branch that prevented me from hitting a spiritual bottom. As it states again in Wisdom "But you spare all things, because they are your." Here was God's mercy, but yet I was unable to figure this out. Upward I climbed grabbing each branch until finally I was at the top of the tree where I could see clearly. Having a different insight, I allowed God into my being.  Yes, Jesus was going to stay at my house as well.

After many years the realization of God's infinite mercy is becoming more clear. I still question at times why He accepts me in my sinfulness. But through the workings of the Holy Spirit these faults are exposed which then allows me to bring them humbly before God in act of contrition.  My favorite prayer throughout the day continues to be the Jesus prayer.

However more challenging perhaps is why He allows the evil of others to prevail in our world.  I want to judge much like those in today's Gospel, but under different circumstances. Each of these people are climbing their own sycamore tree and as God allowed myself to make free choices, so then are they. Praying for them that they reach the proverbial top and find the gaze of God's mercy and as the psalmist states "The Lord lifts up those who are falling" can bring a sense of peace.