Skip to main content

Grace

Mother Theresa once said that we should never let others come to us without us leaving them better. This is easier said than done. People can catch us in inopportune times, in times of busyness, when we’re least likely to forgive them for a misstep and most likely to snap because of some interruption. They find us in poor moods, when the circumstances of our days have clouded our better judgment and encouraged us to respond curtly, and even in anger. If we’re not careful, we even begin to see others as obstacles rather than allies, as burdens instead of potential friends. Still, there is a profound wisdom in the practice of mercy. The simple act of ignoring a slight-- or, even better, of responding with warmth to the awkward moments in others’ lives when their faults are laid bare before us—teaches us more about grace than any treatise, sermon, or exposition ever could; and when we pay close enough attention to it in others, it forces us also to stop and begin to consider those around us with greater care. In short, the act of grace causes us to treat people as people.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Nice Guy Fallacy

I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...

Heroes

Although we have several examples of heroes in our day, one of the best known is of a woman named Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (“Gonja Bojaju”), who devoted her life to sustaining the “poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.” Her venue was Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher until she began to take notice of the poverty there. Seeking to do something about it, she began an organization that consisted of just thirteen members at its inception. Called the “Missionaries of Charity,” the organization would eventually burgeon into well over 5,000 members worldwide, running approximately 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries; and caring for the orphaned, blind, aged, disabled, and poor. As her personal work expanded, she traveled to countries like Lebanon, where she rescued 37 children from a hospital by pressing for peace between Israel and Palestine; to Ethiopia, where she traveled to help the hungry; to Chernobyl, Russia, to assist victims of the nuclear meltdown there; and to ...

Haiti 2012

In case anyone would like to help this trip, or would like to know what we will be doing, here is my support letter for our Haiti trip in June. February 11, 2012 Dear Friends, Family, and Fellow Believers: Last year, a group of eleven people traveled to an orphanage in southern Haiti called the Hands and Feet Project. During the week we were there, we witnessed poverty, disease, and overcrowding. We heard stories of abandoned children, natural disaster, and the uncertainties and isolation of missions work. We felt tangibly the confusion of a country wracked by hopelessness and overwhelming difficulty. In the midst of it all, however, we experienced something more. We witnessed the hope of future orphanages and clean water, heard stories of unity and compassion for children left behind, and felt tangibly the love of God for the people of Haiti through a group of unified people whose goal is to serve him. It was these experiences of hopefulness that left many of us change...