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| Grace |
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God is good.
Amid all the pain and suffering in this world -- and there is no shortage -- I wake up each and every morning, and those are my first thoughts.
The cynic might say: "Well, Eric, if I abused my body the way you do, and lived to see another day, I'd wake up with those thoughts myself." And there is truth in that. I have enjoyed way too many double bacon cheeseburgers and stacks of onion rings in my lifetime -- who else leads a discipleship triad at Riverside North? -- not to mention pizzas of every type, shape. and size.
But the truth is -- even if I were an emaciated vegan stuck on fasting -- a terrifying image (with apologies to my emaciated vegan friends) -- I'd praise the Lord with each new day.
Each new day reminds me that God is good. God is love. God's greatest gift of love is grace.
I am sitting here in Ocracoke Island -- free and easy. Just Nancy and I. A kayak. The beach. Tons of books. A cell phone that doesn't ring (thank you friends, family, and clients). High-speed internet and cable so that I can keep up with my Fantasy Baseball teams and the NBA finals (and Tiger Woods). No FOX News -- therefore, no news at all -- LOL. A full kitchen where I can cook. Sunsets. This is awesome.
So, you could argue, it is easy to come by Grace so easily here.
But what opened me back up on the subject of Grace was 1) a real need for a Grace Booster shot and 2) time enough to read Philip Yancey's book "What's So Amazing About Grace?".
If you have not read this book, do so.
*****
My mom's middle name was Grace. That is about as close as I'll ever get in terms of self-identification and the giving of grace. Not without trying. And I'll pray to do better. But I have always known a reality of being ungraceful -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually -- the proverbial "bull in the china shop" -- and for this, I am truly sorry, and entirely owing to others.
I marvel at how some people exude Grace -- and how the same people blush at the thought -- perhaps they do not realize God at work in them this way, the light of the Spirit shining through them unto others.
I think of my Grandma Schneider, when she was still alive. I think of Preach, the campus pastor when I attended the University of Illinois. I think of Narayan Paul, and his wife Gracie -- how appropriate a name -- and how he towered over others in terms of Grace through his ministry to the 'forgotten' and 'untouchable'. And of friends like Deb and Ed Meyers, and Ruth and Dave Poole... folks who do caring for others, friends and strangers, as a way of life -- not to exclude many, many others friends who show Grace -- I can think of dozens.
Read the book, because you will learn something, I think, that is important. About Grace, yes, and about Ungrace. I think this is a transforming book. Not to replace the Gospel, or the Word, but to call attention to the single aspect that separates Christianity, and our understanding of God, from every other people/religion.
Enjoy. |
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Laura |
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June 18, 2008 at 9:26am |
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Even after all this time,
the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights the whole sky.
~ Hafiz (13th century poet)
God is good indeed :)
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God is Great.
I am still trying to comprehend what Grace means to me. How to apply what I learned from Philip Yancey's insight into God, how he loves, and how he forgives, and into Jesus, what being a Christ-follower impels us to be.
And, as I pray, and reflect, I am at once crushed by disappointment, and disgust and lifted up with thanksgiving, and joy. How so?
I am so deeply enmeshed in a life that is filled with envy, and greed, loathing and mistrust; surrounded by human beings that wallow in sin and think so little of themselves, and others, that justice and mercy seem laughably unattainable; and, I see myself as one of the good guys, hanging out with good people. That's the bad news.
The good news? God loves me anyway. God loves you anyway? No matter what. Undeserved.
*****
I look at our congregation -- at Peace -- and I see many good things. But I have to be honest. Grace is not something that I see in abundance.
I am personally frustrated that Ungrace comes to me so much easier than Grace.
And, if I don't get it, who am I to call others on it?
A call went out for each of us to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are still discerning who qualifies as our neighbor, and what qualifies as love. I find that shockingly sad.
*****
Despite falling short, God is there. I pray that people know that -- that despite how I might behave, or others in the church might behave, on any given day -- that God forgives us -- and loves us all.
God is good. |
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Laura |
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June 19, 2008 at 9:08am |
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Grace is that gift that seems the hardest to accept. When someone gives me a gift, all that is required from me is to accept it, a thank you is always a good idea. Yet what is this gift? It seems to me that the term.. state of Grace implies a big understanding.. that it corresponds with our 'state of being'. It is the gift of being in relationship, and that relationship grants us salvation.. salvation from? Not being in relationship with God.
If my 'state of being' is seeking always that 'State of Grace'... then I am operating within the relationship, God is always giving, always present, and always loving... so by being in 'right' relationship, I am within that State of Grace and receiving all that God can give. I am accepting all the love that God is always giving. .
That changes everything. It changes the way I think, what I see, how I feel... God's Grace is all-sufficient...
It reminds me of Bonhoeffer's term of 'cheap grace'. It is the idea that God flows this amazing and incomprehensible gift into our lives, we know it, we claim, but we don't fully accept and receive it into our being. It remains external, it remains apart from us. And so it remains as that precious china in the cabinet that is too beautiful to set our table with.
I cringe sometimes when I hear the idea that we don't deserve such a gift... and certainly by our actions, individually and certainly collectively, we don't. But that's not the whole picture. We are of God, images of God... we are each uniquely set apart to receive what God is waiting to so abundantly flow into our lives... I think the humble heart knows... both at the same time that we are undeserving of such love and that we were created specifically for such love. we are taught in so many ways that we are not enough.. we are not... but in the Grace of God we find, we are.. and more...
What you term as discerning who our neighbor is... I see as our fearful projections of what we are not. We still (collectively) think we must do something to warrant this love, that rules must be followed, 'right doctrine' adhered to... we still feel a pull to be special to God, we still... think that somehow there is a finite amount of Grace... Grace is always present. When we allow that 'state of being' for longer and longer periods of time to be who we are... then we will be able to see.... that Grace in everyone... and when confronted with someone who is willing to see that Grace in us.. even when we don't feel all that worthy... that is the gift of Grace...
When we can look in the mirror and see God's Grace... then we will be that mirror of God's Grace for others.
This is what I'm discovering over time from the practice of centering prayer. It's not.. revelations that 'come to me'... it's more a softening, a gentleness that I find working into my speech and actions... and I find I can see more clearly when I've taken a giant step out of that space of relationship, Grace... but it's no big trick to step back into the protective wings of God's Grace... all I am finding is required is.. realizing it... the ego so doesn't want to be in that place where God is first and not the ego...
I heard a catchy little phrase about the ego...
Edging God Out. That there are five common ways we do that...
thinking/believing.. I am what I have, I am what I do, I am what others think about me, I am seperate from everyone else, I am seperate from God.
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