Oct 292013
 

Grace is the outpouring of God’s unconditional love, literally without conditions, which is to say without requirements and without limits.  Beyond welcoming and accepting it, there is nothing anyone must do or not do, or believe or not believe, or profess or not profess to receive it.  It is as universal as the sun, moon, and stars that shine on all people, as ever-present as the earth beneath us all.  And, as with the air around us all, we can hold our breath as long as we wish, but it’s still there for us when we’re ready to breathe again.

The New Testament is commonly understood as telling the story that Jesus was born to be the one and only channel of Grace into this world.  Yet, if Jesus is the one and only channel of Divine Love, even if he is considered the most necessary channel among many others, then that love would no longer be unconditional.  Instead, we can understand the New Testament to tell a story about just how powerful Grace can be, with Jesus showing us the way to let Grace flow through us to others, and thus more fully realize our very lives as Grace in action.

With these understandings, the only meaningful questions about Divine Grace are about whether or not a person welcomes, accepts, and expresses it as freely, as unconditionally, as it is given.   Of course, none of us do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t grow in that direction, if we want to do so.

Agape

  2 Responses to “Grace”

  1. The Ahavah Rabbah prayer in Judaism is a prayer about God’s unbounded love for us.

    How deeply You have loved us Adonai, our God, gracing us with surpassing
    compassion! On account of our forebears whose trust led You to teach them the laws
    of life, be gracious to us, teaching us as well. O Merciful One, have mercy on us
    by making us able to understand and discern, to heed, learn, and teach, and, lovingly,
    to observe, perform, and fulfill all that is in Your Torah.

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