Now, what is the other aspect that Paul spoke of where he received mercy? You can exercise that. So someone doesn’t know it. Paul didn’t know it; he confessed he did not know it, and he received mercy. Like my friend in San Francisco, he meets a man who never heard this story; but he, my friend, heard it. The man is unemployed and wants a bill for a dinner. My friend made himself a pledge he would not give any panhandler a dollar at any time. He had an experience when he was a boy at fifteen, so true to form, he did not give the dollar. But now he knows this story; he can’t get away with it anymore by simply ignoring the request. The man wants food. The man wants a job. The man is in need. Well, he cannot ignore it and walk by knowing this. He is confronted now with a request. He has to stop right on that street and see that man gainfully employed, knowing in his heart that that imaginal act of his has its own appointed hour. It ripens; it will flower. If to the man, who doesn’t know this law, it seems late, it seems long, in getting the job, well then, he isn’t concerned. He did what he was called upon to do; and although it seems long, he will wait, confident that it will not be late, and it will simply come into complete flower in that man’s life. He knows it. So he was merciful and forgave the man. If he, knowing what he knows today, daring to teach this law to others, asking them to join with him in simply setting the world free, that he met a man because he had a good meal, the man didn’t, and instead of doing this, simply ignored it and walked by, went home to his own home where he’s sheltered, comforted, and has a full larder; he will be held responsible. He was not merciful.135 ¶6