Mercy came confidently knocking at my door around noontime. I wasn’t expecting her. Dressed in a green suede shirt with holes in it, she seemed so unassuming that I nearly missed the importance of her visit. I invited her in, unsure I should allow myself the luxury, but she, in her enormity, wrapped herself warmly around me. She came to teach me to forgive myself before forgiving others, “It makes you more believable” she said.   I was glad she came and joined her near the window, where we bathed in sunlight. She likes the light. She didn’t want details, but gently moved me toward a distant hope I had not imagined. Mercy knows so much about people; she realizes that sin and emptiness are born from uncontrollable fear. “This was the reason, she says, that “Jesus repeated the phrase, “fear not”, more than anything else he stated.   I asked her if she had a best friend, she said “sure”, and told me her name is kindness.   Kindness and Mercy are always togethe...