Mercy – We fall down and we get up

The spiritual path can be a herky-jerky affair. It often seems like a two steps forward/one step back affair. We commit, we fail, and we recommit. We find ourselves returning again and again to some of the same sin. We can become discouraged by our own spiritual intransigence. We are tempted to give up or give in. We need mercy. We need help.

It is good to remember that this is – and has always been – standard fair for those seeking to live into holiness. It is also good to remember that our call to live lives of disciplined faithfulness comes within the context of the amazing grace we know in Jesus Christ. That discipline in the context of grace is demonstrated in this story from the early Church:

Dorotheos of Gaza was a monk in the sixth century who, among other things, oversaw the infirmary at his monastery. Dorotheos had an assistant whose name was Dosithy.

In the infirmary Dosithy was a good worker, looking after the sick, making their beds, and making them comfortable. Everything that he did was well done. If it happened that he was put out by a peevish patient or grew angry and rough with his patients, he would weep bitterly and would not be consoled. The others would report it to Dorotheos, who would seek him out and find him seated on the floor weeping his eyes out. ‘What’s the matter, Dosithy, what are you crying about?’ ‘Forgive me, Father,’ he would say, ‘I got angry with my brother and spoke unkindly with him.’ ‘And so, Dosithy, you were annoyed, and are not ashamed to speak badly to your brother! You don’t yet realise that he is Christ, and that you have been a cause of suffering to Christ?’ Dosithy would lower his eyes, still crying, and say nothing. When he had cried enough, Dorotheos would say, ‘God forgive you. Up now! Let us begin again from now, and let us be more attentive and God will help us.’ As soon as he heard these words, Dosithy would get up joyfully and run off to his duties, fully convinced that he had been pardoned by God. Similar scenes took place from time to time, and always when Dorotheos said, ‘Come on! Up you get! God forgive you. Once more start again from the beginning, but correct yourself from now on.’ Dosithy would shake off his trouble and go to work again with a will. 

– Dorotheos of Gaza: Discourses and Sayings

I am struck with how this story demonstrates how seriously the early Church took anger as a sinful passion and kindness in word and action along with patience as fundamental virtues.

I am also persuaded that the way Dorotheos engages Dosithy is the way God engages us. Our sin is named and taken seriously – no excuses. We should weep over them with remorse. But, then, in his mercy, God does not leave us to wallow in guilt or despair. ‘Come on! Up you get! God forgive you. Once more start again from the beginning, but correct yourself from now on.’

When asked what about life in the monastery, a monk answered, “We fall down and we get up, we fall down and we get up.”

Bernard of Clairvaux said once, “The difference between the damned and the saved is that everyone, except the damned, gets up and stumbles on.”

Up now! Let us begin from now and let us be more attentive and God will help us stumble on.

Becoming a People of God's Mercy and Delight, Part 1

Becoming a People of God's Mercy and Delight, Part 2

More Mercy and Delight