Eulogy for Grace ?
Every life consists of seasons.
Little children live in wonder. How could they not?
Every day they experience firsts.
They are in awe as they first view the sun and sky.
They are exuberant as they feel rain on their face for the first time.
A bird in flight is so amazing.
The first grasshopper, hilarious.
The first sliding board, frightening and then delightful.
The first skinned knee.
The first accomplishment.
The first disappointment.
The first friendship.
The first tear.
But the thousandth sunset goes unnoticed.
The hundredth grasshopper is just a bug.
The hundredth disappointment brings no tears, only hardened resolve.
When I became a man, I put away childish things. Things like self-centeredness, tantrums, lack of focus and emotional displays… like tears. Unfortunately I also set aside child-likeness. Child-like characteristics like wonder, trust, inquisitiveness, imagination, expectation and emotional displays… like tears.
Now I am an old man.
Remarkably, I find myself in awe of a sunset, even if it is my 24,000th one.
I get a stiff neck trying to watch an osprey fly overhead.
I laugh out loud at a turtle just doing turtle stuff.
I tear up when I see a kid celebrating a simple accomplishment.
Grace is child-like.
Grace believes that pouring out good to others will make a difference.
But even if it doesn’t, even if the result isn’t what is hoped for, it was worth it. And grace will keep doing it.
Some say that doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity. Actually that may be an indication of insanity but it is not the definition (look it up). Maybe it is a better definition of grace. How many times should we forgive? Seven times? Seventy times seven? Is that an indication of insanity? Or is it evidence of grace?
You could say that
The human race has outgrown grace.
There is no room for compromise.
There is not even space for open mindedness.
It is imperative that we pick a side, declare our loyalty and prepare for battle.
Our opposition must not be treated with dignity. They must not be honored in any way.
The time for respect has passed.
We must win at any cost.
You could say that. In fact a lot of folks say that…
…but don’t believe it.
Grace is indeed child-like but only in the sense that it is pure, not naïve.
Grace is a more enlightened perspective, not an ignorant one.
Grace is the strongest stance, not the weakest.
Grace is the position we abandoned to pursue greater power and uninhibited freedom.
But at the moment we devalue grace, we embrace a pattern that will ultimately destroy us.
So is it all over? Are we in an irreversible death spiral? Or can we turn, reverse course and recover?
I think it is possible. We can change and recover. The price will be enormous. Many gracious people will suffer. Many will not live long enough to enjoy the result. But if enough people say “enough”. We can.
So what must we do?
If we have power, use it to lift and empower the hopeless.
If we have freedom, use it to set other people free.
Choose generosity over selfishness.
Listen for areas of agreement instead of focusing on every possible difference.
Look for space to allow creativity, synergy and progress to flow.
Always listen, understand and respect, even if there is no agreement.
Use disagreements as a way to expand, not limit our options and solutions.
Finally, what do we do about evil? Surely grace doesn’t simply look the other way and forgive genocide, child abuse, slavery and every other act of injustice, does it? At what point does a gracious person stand against evil? Is there a time when resistance or even violence becomes an act of grace?
Let that question float for a moment while we make some observations about grace in the face of evil.
When confronted with the choice of defending someone against evil, grace says do it, even though it may mean you become the new focus of that evil.
If a friend or ally is doing evil, grace demands that you call on them to stop, even though you risk losing the friend.
Grace doesn’t consider my own position or social standing when deciding to act. Standing up to the powerful when they act unjustly, embracing the outsider, showing respect for those with differing or unpopular views will not bring me any gain and may prove very costly. But those are acts of grace.
Even as I say these things, I realize how utterly impossible they sound. That’s why it’s important to understand the source of grace. Grace is not a human trait. It is not natural. It is supernatural. Grace is not something we conjure up. It flows from the heart of God. When we embrace it, it flows through us to others, almost without our awareness.
If we choose to act graciously in order to be viewed as morally superior or more enlightened or more anything else, we have adopted a gracious stance for the purpose of self gratification. And at that point, it is no longer grace at all. So these acts of grace have to flow out with no expectation of gain. What a concept. What a calling! Give respect but don’t expect to be respected. Give up power with no promise of receiving more power. Give up your freedom to free someone else.
Before you dismiss this notion of grace as a naïve concept that sounds good but can’t actually work in the real world, answer one question. How many people have to embrace grace to change the world? Will a cup of water put out a raging forest fire? No, but water is the answer. We just need a whole lot of it. One gracious person won’t reverse centuries of “disgrace” but grace is the answer. We just need a lot of it.
And since grace flows from the heart of God, we just need some people to embrace it and maybe God sends rain; a downpour of grace that extinguishes the raging fire of disgrace. But I can only control one person. I choose to pour out my little cup of grace. Not because I think it’s enough but because I am certain it is all I have to offer. And I hope it encourages or inspires another to do the same.
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