EMPOWERING STUDENT WELLNESS

LOVING MERCY

By Matt Edwards (Secondary Chaplain)

When was the last time you heard somebody use the word ‘mercy’? In fact, what on earth does it actually mean?! The Oxford Languages online definition of mercy, is this: “Compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.” Now that is a multi-faceted sentence. 

You may have been confused by my last article. I acknowledge that when I described justice, there was no sense of being an upstander when injustice takes place. But here is where mercy comes in. There are two parts to mercy, as we can perceive in the definition above. Mercy can be offered to a victim, but also to wrongdoer. In an age where being cancelled is embedded into our culture, and seen to be a positive thing by many, it totally flies in the face of mercy. 

Burnt bridges do not build communities. A vindictive attitude towards being harmed or seeing others being harmed is a factor that creates instability within a community. It also means that showing mercy can be a personally costly thing, because restoration is desired. Otherwise, what would we have our families and society look like? Making everyone who hurts somebody else walk the gang plank does not rehabilitate anyone! If we did something wrong (or, when we do), imagine if we were not offered forgiveness? Well, we can offer something different to each other here. Something costly. But also, something rich and worthwhile. 

Consider again our definition though. Somebody who is in a position to offer mercy, actually has a power because of this. I think many would consider mercy as a weakness, but it is actually choosing to use power in a certain way. To help and to heal. To forgive and restore. To seek justice, but not by creating more injustice. And as the article is entitled, this is something that we can choose to love doing!

This is our hope for all of our students, your kids. Because they belong to this school, we want for this to be shown to them. That when they mess up, forgiveness is offered. When they are hurt, that there is comfort and protection. And the great part is, that this invitation is offered to all who belong to our school, that they can participate in it by showing mercy to others too. That compassion and forgiveness can be readily given, because this is who we choose to be together.

For more information that explores this topic please follow the below links:

https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/how-to-talk-about-bullying

https://bhcs.vic.schooltv.me/content/blog/cyberbullying-michael-carr-gregg

https://bhcs.vic.schooltv.me/content/blog/so-your-child-refuses-go-school-heres-how-respond

WELLBEING RESOURCES

We know that it can sometimes be hard to find the necessary resources in relation to mental health, bullying and family violence, especially when things are tough. For this reason, the School has a small webpage with links related to health and wellbeing resources. This can be found on the School's website under Other Resources or can be found here.