Love as Kindness and Mercy
In the Lutheran church I grew up in, we used the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. In that translation, one term I really loved appeared nearly two hundred times: “steadfast love.” That term attempted to capture the Hebrew word hesed, whose core meaning is “eager desire.” Hesed is used repeatedly to convey God’s persistent faithfulness to his chosen people Israel, even when they walked away from God. Other translations use different English words, including kindness and mercy.
I like the associations between love, kindness, and mercy. Together they suggest that caring for someone, looking after them, desiring their well-being is related to accepting them as they are. That’s what mercy is--not ignoring a person’s failures, but recognizing them and then refusing to walk away because you see the deep value of that person. I think that’s beautiful.
This is the way God loves us. It’s also the way we’re called to love other people. In Judaism, rooted in the Hebrew Bible, hesed--kindness, mercy, love--is a core element of ethics.
As Rabbi Shimon the Righteous taught, "The world rests upon three things: Torah, service to God, and showing kindness [hesed].”
In modern Judaism, ethics is often described as tikkun olam, or repairing the world.” That lovely phrase suggests that our actions can help--in whatever small way--to put our broken world together. Kindness, mercy is central to that effort.
For a perfectionist like me, love as kindness and mercy is a challenge and a comfort. A challenge because I’m so quick to dismiss people when they let me down. A comfort because when I let others down I fear I won’t be acceptable. The connection between the two isn’t lost on me. Learning to love myself--to be gentle, kind, and forgiving--is key to developing the capacity to show kindness to others. We are more than our weaknesses and failures, even when they cause harm. We are deeply valuable and deeply loved. May we strive to show real kindness to ourselves and to those around us.
- David Neumann