oes God (or the great nation of America, if you’re not the believing type) want/need our “I’m grateful for” lists on this on one day, only to have us revert to business as usual the following day? Or would the world–and not coincidentally, we–be better off if we showed our gratitude in our actions on Thanksgiving Day and every other day, too?
Read MoreAll articles filed in Mercy on a Monday
Blankets, Anyone?
Lots of people right now are looking for ways to serve. Here’s a great one: blankets for refugees! But it comes with an expiration date: they must have the blankets in Virginia by Nov. 30. We all have been given lots of baby blankets, right? And most of them saw very little use and are still…
Read MoreTen Simple Ways To Model Mercy For Your Kids
Modeling #mercy doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are ten simple ways to teach your children to live #mercy.
Read MoreCarrying The Future
I know I’m not saying anything revolutionary here, but the world is really screwed up. I’m also aware that this is nothing unique to this particular era, this particular election cycle. The world has always been a screwed up place. Maybe this is maturity—spiritual or otherwise—finally allowing me to reserve a piece of my…
Read MoreNotes from The War Zone
A lot of days, I feel like I live in a war zone. And a lot of days, I just want to throw in the towel. Like yesterday, for instance. We let the kids sleep in, let them wake up slowly, gave them no responsibility whatsoever. Just a nice, relaxing morning, in advance of a…
Read MoreThe Incredible Sick
Every superhero movie these days involves a mind-blowing escalation of the final battle. You know. The Avengers are fighting creepy mechanical creatures that fly around knocking New York City to pieces. You think it can’t get any worse, and then it does: there’s a lull in the action, a low-pitched roar, and my kids start…
Read MoreDouble Standards
At the sound of a crash on wood, Christian and I both turned around, gearing up for a Parental Scowl at the offending child. By the time we saw the toy tractor, which had been dropped into our pew by the non-Basi boy in the row behind, I realized it was far too sharp a…
Read MoreOn The Wrong Side Of Mercy
I suppose it was inevitable that sooner or later, I was going to run into someone who would threaten to call the police on me for child endangerment. I mean, the odds were not in my favor to raise four kids to adulthood without encountering someone who would take issue with the laissez-faire style of…
Read MoreMercy In The Age of Facebook
Because the spiritual works of mercy have always been a little tough to pin down, I offer this today: The Spiritual Works of Mercy – in the Age of Facebook Mark Piper 🔶 To Give Counsel to the Doubtful, in person, without a shield of anonymity, with charity and goodwill as your motivation 🔶 To Instruct…
Read MoreTwo Pieces of Candy
I must have been six or seven, not yet old enough to be fully aware of the vague sense of financial worry caused by growing up on a farm in the 1980s. But plenty old enough to know better. I stole a couple pieces of candy from the open Brach’s bin at the IGA. I…
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Kathleen M. Basi 