Honey
God chooses to use honey rather than vinegar.
There is a very old expression hat I have been taught since I was a little girl, and it goes like this… You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Another expression that means about the same thing goes like this… better the carrot than the stick.
What these expressions really mean are that if you approach something in a positive manner you are more likely to get a positive result.
In other words, if I want someone to do something for me then I should ask them nicely rather than being mean or rude or offensive about the thing.
And I have been thinking about this today. Because being nice about things is awfully difficult when I compare how easy it is to be mean or rude about asking for something…
If I want something and someone is not cooperating with me I can very quickly lose my temper and can resort to yelling or pounding my fist or just throwing a sort of tantrum to get what I want.
And this is a very easy trap to fall into. And the more I pound my fist or cause a commotion the less likely I am to get what I am after and the more upset I am likely to become…
God has the power to pound His fists – or even less – and get what He wants. If God decided to end the world this instant and obliterate us from existence, He could do that. He would not need permission. He would not need to worry about us. He is complete and perfect as He is then and He is still complete and perfect right now. If I am alive or if I never existed, God is unchanged and unchangeable.
And yet – God chooses to use honey rather than vinegar. He chooses the carrot rather than the stick.
This is why He deliberately asked Saint Faustina to make known His Divine Mercy. For though He could do as He wished with the world, He has decided to offer Mercy. He will not destroy and punish souls if they will come to Him humbly and ask for His mercy.
And I have been thinking about that today because without the mercy of God I would have no hope of salvation at all. After all, was it not the mercy of God that allowed Him to become Incarnate of the Virgin Mary and suffer under Pontius Pilate to be crucified, died and buried? And did He not subject Himself to such torments so that He could triumph over sin and rise from the dead?
And did He not do all of this for me – for my sake?
All because God Himself chooses to use honey where I only merit vinegar, and He does that for me – because He loves me – as sinful and undeserving as I am…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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