May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13 v 14
This is “The Grace” from the bible that we say at the end of meetings often in the church. It’s a prayer, a blessing, a formula for taking leave of each other. But if that is “The Grace” then what is Grace. I always remember being told in a church when I was younger that Grace is: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. It’s a nice mnemonic but it takes us into quite heavy theological territory that most people switch off from. The other thing that comes to mind is the word “graceful”. This is a bit more tangible as we think of swans or ballerinas but then, does that make us think most of us are NOT very graceful! I think we are, at times, we are full of grace.
Grace, for me, is a word that is hard to define but as an action, as a way of treating each other, it is easy to spot. I can think of many times when someone graciously let someone else speak or do something when they themselves could have taken taken over. I have been in meetings when grace entered the proceedings as someone admitted they were wrong or asked for help. And I have often been gracefully given another chance by colleagues, friends and family when I myself have made a mess of things.
This week, think of a time when grace has entered your circumstances and transformed a situation. Pray that you might have more grace in your approach to others and that in turn, they may be gracious to you. Here’s a prayer that I think helps very much with that:
This week’s prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference. Reinhold Neibhur.
This week’s music: