“Look down upon us in kindness and forgive us in mercy as we in justice forgive those who distress and injure us.” 144:5.96 (1623.43)
There is a kind of prayer that reshapes the soul—not by asking for power, but by asking for perspective.
“Look down upon us in kindness and forgive us in mercy
as we in justice forgive those who distress and injure us.”
This is not a plea for divine favoritism.
It is an invitation to alignment—to see as God sees, to respond as God responds.
Kindness downward.
Justice outward.
Mercy all around.
To forgive “in justice” means you don’t pretend harm didn’t happen.
You don’t collapse into passivity or spiritual bypassing.
You acknowledge truth, you name reality—
and then you choose the nobler path anyway.
This is the forgiveness that transforms the forgiver.
Because mercy without justice becomes weakness.
Justice without mercy becomes cruelty.
But when the soul blends the two, something divine is born—
a posture that mirrors the kindness you yourself are asking heaven to grant.
So let this prayer do its work in you:
as you ask for mercy, become merciful.
As you seek kindness, offer it.
As you desire forgiveness, extend it.
This is how the soul grows Godward.