Dear Friends,
The U.S. military, when contending for peace during the Cold War, introduced the term “weaponize” to describe equipping rockets with nuclear material.
Weaponize – “to adapt for use as a means for contending against someone or something.”
“Mercy”!! That was Grandma Edna’s default reaction for contending with what wounded or troubled her.
Not surprisingly, the term “weaponize” is popularly used to describe all kinds of things… dress, menus, children, moods, diets, curriculum, and much more. From the glib to the thoughtful.
Author Sheldon Vanauken, in his book, A Severe Mercy, describes the tragic suffering and death of his wife. He writes “there is a suffering that overwhelmed my life, yet a mercy as severe as death, a severity as merciful as love.”
A ‘weaponized mercy’… a ‘severity as merciful as love’, capable of transforming the hearts of man. “For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness…” Ephesians 6:12
“Love one another as I have loved you.” John 13:34
God has equipped you and me for this assignment. “Mercy”!
His peace,
~Wynn