Reflection Options  

Journal  (Reflect on one or more of these questions)

• When you think of showing mercy, what pictures come to your mind? When were you a recipient of someone else’s mercy? What was that like?

• Journal about a time you tried to extend mercy and it didn’t go well. Put yourself in the shoes of the receiver.  What do you think they were feeling or experiencing?  How do you think you would approach it differently now?

• It’s easy to say that Jesus was merciful, but how did he show mercy to others (practically)? Can you tell anything about his attitude as he showed mercy?

Quote Interaction  (Agree, disagree or otherwise engage with the quote/quotes)

• There are 2,000 verses of Scripture that tell us we must be committed to protecting the poor and the oppressed... There is no concern of Scripture that is addressed so often and so powerfully as reaching out to the poor. (Tony Campolo)

• We must reach out our hand in friendship and dignity both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy. (Arthur Ashe)

• “We should not regard what a man is and what he deserves: but we should go higher – that it is God who has placed us in the world for such a purpose that we be united and joined together. He has impressed his image in us and has given us a common nature, which should incite us to providing one for the other. The man who wishes to exempt himself from providing for his neighbors should face himself and declare that he no longer wishes to be a man, for as long as we are human creatures we must contemplate as in a mirror our face in those who are poor, despised, exhausted, who groan under their burdens . ..   (John Calvin)

• Mercy is something we extend, not just something we intend. (George Grant)

Reading and reflection on Shaping The Journey of Emerging Adults: 

• Read Teresa’s words about speaking at a conference on sexuality (pp. 169-170, see also pp. 179-181).  How do you see a ministry of compassion and mercy applying to the way we respond to each other in the area of our sexuality/sexual failures?  What might that look like?

• Read “Challenge unawareness” and “Invite young adults to be proactive” (p. 156). In what ways do you think you have been “unaware” of the call to love others? Journal about where you are with the three things listed that hinder us from proactive caring, or do an assessment of your relationships as suggested.