Our Collect of the Day seems to affirm a possibly less severe, less demanding, less rigorous, less mean-minded and harsh and unbending and unforgiving situation than we fear it is, hear it is, worry it may be, even - God help us - less fearsome and worrisome than we oddly wish it were.

"The Church needs to stand for something!" is the often-heard, outraged cry and criticism. "The Church has gotten lax", or "The teaching has gotten mushy", or whatever - you have heard or read the comments. But if we look at the evidence, the genuine and holy and divine evidence, we see that the Church, our Lord, our God are far more gracious and kind and undemanding and accepting and forgiving than we dare to hope, than some want to believe - sweeter, kinder, gentler than some would allow or approve.

Doubtless this early autumn Collect of our own tiny Episcopal Church gets overlooked by the great world around us in the general fray and that is a shame - it is so dear and helpful, and demonstrably true, even if startling: "O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity."

Even though this may be easily and widely overlooked, the rest of the very obvious biblical evidence should not be so easily overlooked, yet I suspect it is.

Hosea, the great 8th c. B.C. prophet, quotes God as saying "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)

Jesus, quoting that prophet from 800 years before him repeats to the unbending, unyielding Pharisees and scribes: "Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice' ." (Matthew 9:13)

So much of the imagery about God is all about his power and majesty, splendor and glory:

"The Voice of the Lord is a powerful voice, the Voice of the Lord is a voice of splendor - the Voice of the Lord splits the cedars of Lebanon and makes the oak trees writhe."

"He swoops on the wings of the winds, he rides on the might of the storm".

"Round about him there is a raging storm and a consuming fire".

Elijah's great insight, first among the world's spiritual and religious insights, is his sudden and revolutionary realization that the most immediate presence of the Lord is not in the storm or the wind or the fire or the earthquake, but after quiet time, in a still small voice - a major breakthrough in human perception about divinity - yes, God is shown forth in all those other places, but the most treasured and intimate and precious place where he is beheld by us, is in tiny, still, small, suggestive, gentle, compassionate, tender ways - shown, declared, encountered "chiefly in mercy and pity".

God would surely have to be the God of such power and might, such glory and renown, to dare risk displaying his awesome power, "chiefly in showing mercy and pity." Zeus, Thor, would never risk it, could never risk it.

No matter how we feel about various American military decisions, and how passionately we feel, it is, its seem to me, inarguable that we show restraint, we risk international humiliation by choosing more the way of the small voice, and the suffering servant, and less the way of the thundering Thor or the vicious Zeus.

How many tens of thousands of nuclear bombs do we hold and refuse to use while our dearest, bravest young men are cut down in the hundred, thousands, by homemade roadside bombs. Weakness? Insane jihadists doubtless think so. But in reality, showing, proving, a power awesome enough, well-armed enough, to dare to show that vast power, a power sufficient to obliterate the world, to show that power chiefly in showing "mercy and pity".

A point of contention and acrimonious disagreement in the public and political forum I know, but still, still, we withhold, we modulate, we sacrifice rather than smash and obliterate and incinerate at the level we could.

Doubtless there many compelling geopolitical reasons for this, but there must also be a deep-seated intention and commitment, established by our faith in God and our desire to take him as the example of righteousness and goodness and decency that results in our showing that sort of restraint. No, we do not share his power by any means, but we hope in some pale way to share his restraint, his compassion, his forbearance, even at great cost to ourselves and our people and our lives.

I have no wish to stray into areas of which I know too little, but I quietly and tentatively mention that I have heard no Imam, or sheik, speak with the sad regret and genuine sorrow that the Pope with his billion Catholics showed when he spoke in regret and contrition for a too-hasty quote from an ancient document. Did he show power chiefly in showing mercy and pity? It is at least arguable I would say, at least possible. And admirable.

I offer no way forward in politics or statecraft or war, and do not mean to suggest I could. But I want to hold forth some few shreds of genuine evidence that power can be withheld, and mercy and pity shown chiefly instead, by the followers of the God who set that standard, and showed the way, and called us to follow.

"O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity."

May we as well. Always aware of the cost. As he was.