Team,
It's been too long since I've blogged, but what a bright, weird and hard season. That's God's grace right there.
The other day at our staff meeting, I was challenged to write a definition of GRACE but without the use of the axioms that seem to flow from our academic minds so easily. Some of those theological definitions of grace include (roughly):
- An infinite God bestowing a divine gift to a finite humanity.
- Love and Mercy merged together
- Justice without Revenge
- Get-out-of-jail-free-card (this one doesn't make complete sense to me but we can talk...)
- the power to do something that we could not do on our own.
- undeserved favor
- unmerited worth
- and underwear backwards... what?!
There are so many definitions out there and yet we all have a hard time conveying this concept (as well as the reality) of grace to others.
Long story less long, here is a definition that I compiled:
Grace is why the Christian worldview works. It is being accepted even when you feel condemned. It is God telling you that you are OK in such a way that when it is received, it simultaneously changes you and the world surrounding you (and me). It
is ok. I am OK.
Like a mother's milk, God's grace can bring a malnourished child back to health, gives her sustenance to live the another day, and all the while giving a healthy bacteria to combat the future diseases along the way. It is her husband loving her, holding her, as she cares for this child that was never her own.
Grace is the solid foundation and reality for waking up in the morning, much more doing anything else. Without grace there is no God for we could know him no other way.
With grace defined, I wrote some personal axioms.
- Grace is being comfortable in a worn pair of shoes.
- Grace is head high waves with only a few dudes in the water.
- Grace is my wife holding me for an hour as I scream out to God when a best buddy felt the desire to end his life early.
- Grace is being caught in the headlights, recognizing it and looking away.
- Grace is a phone-call from my Mom and Dad.
- Grace is being yourself, looking down and the looking back up w/ a chuckle.
- Grace is Courtney's cookies. They're so freakin' good.
- Grace is voicing things to others that you are scared to write in the privacy of your journal.
- Grace is continuing every sentence with the word 'Grace' or maybe using too many "I's" in your writing.
- Grace is yelling "shit" in Cross-Fit.
- Grace is typing that you yell "shit" in Cross-Fit.
Grace is amazing. There is even grace in this as I didn't feel the need to polish and repolish this blog. I am growing.
Andy
