The lead piece is from "Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. In this book she takes many of the words and images of the faith and attempts to put some reality and life to them.
GRACE
Jacob's theophany, his dream of angels on a stairway to heaven, strikes me as an appealing tale of unmerited grace. Here's a man who has just deceived his father and cheated his brother out of an inheritance. But God's response to finding Jacob vulnerable, sleeping all alone in open country, is not to strike him down for his sins but to give him a blessing...it gives me hope to think that when God gazed on the sleeping Jacob, he looked right through the tough little schemer and saw something good, if only the capacity for awe, for recognizing God and worshipping. That Jacob will worship badly, trying to bargain with god, doesn't seem to matter. God promises to be with him always.
The grace of our God is a difficult reality to grasp. I originally typed in "a difficult concept to grasp" but it isn't a concept. It is a reality. Whether we trust it or not...it is. Whether we trust it or not, God will be the Lord of all hopefulness whose grace awaits us like the father in the story of the two sons in Luke's gospel. The world can go on its cruel and unjust ways but our God continues to engage us as though we are God's beloved. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to see that reality and it is the power that transforms life and brings peace. The amazing thing about this grace is that we are then gifted to see others through just such a gracefulness and that can change the whole manner in which we face this day.
Connection: Beloved of God, how will you face this day? Is it possible to see those within our day with the eyes of our God who sees God's beloved everywhere? That is why we continue to say in our worship - "Come, Holy Spirit, Come." For we need such power to re-view all things.
Lord God you promise to be for us in all times and places. Lead us into this day as the beloved sons and daughters we are in your sight. Within that vision, enable us to walk with our sisters and brothers with a sense of awe and respect and loving kindness as we see your love extending to each of us. Amen
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