Mercy

“While Augustine was working on his book On the Trinity, he was walking by the seaside one day, meditating on the difficult problem of how God could be three Persons at once. He came upon a little child. The child had dug a little hole in the sand, and with a small spoon or seashell was scooping water from the sea into the small hole. Augustine watched him for a while and finally asked the child what he was doing. The child answered that he would scoop all the water from the sea and pour it into the little hole in the sand. ‘What?’ Augustine said. ‘That is impossible. Obviously, the sea is too large and the hole too small.’ ‘Indeed,’ said the child, ‘but I will sooner draw all the water from the sea and empty it into this hole than you will succeed in penetrating the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your limited understanding.’ Augustine turned away in amazement and when he looked back the child had disappeared.” - The child by the seaside

I read this legend about Saint Augustine several years ago. I had not thought about it since then, but it was obviously tucked away in one of those small drawers in my brain where I keep those tidbits of information because I remembered it while meditating about something else: God’s mercy.

One of the things that strikes me the most when I listen to people speaking, even those I know to be devout Catholics, is how little faith they have in God’s mercy. I must admit that, when I am honest with myself, that is also true of me. I say that I believe that God is merciful, but when I see how weak, how prone to wander off the straight path and how easily I am attracted by worthless shiny things, I am quick to pass judgment on myself and can be quite harsh in doing so.

I think a “legend” about the mercy of God would be helpful. It could go something like this:

An angel appeared to me last night. In one hand, she held a balance, one of those old balances with two cups. In the other hand she had something small that looked like a star that is barely visible in the night sky. The angel said, “This is the smallest possible portion of God’s mercy.” She then placed it in one of the cups of the balance and the cup sank quickly to the ground and rested there. The angel then said, “Look around you.” As I did this, I saw a field covered in stones of various sizes and it seemed to go on endlessly in all directions. “These stones’ said the angel, “are your sins and those of all the people of the world since the beginning of time and until the end of time.” She then placed one of the stones in the second cup of the balance and nothing happened. The cup filled with God’s mercy remained firmly grounded where it lay. Then the angel said, “All of the stones of this field could never outweigh even the smallest portion of God’s loving mercy.”