The West Coast Wonderings Part 2: Grace
Tennessee occasionally has a late snowfall. One such snowfall happened while I was in sunny 75 degree Southern California. I didn’t really miss it, I was already up and over the winter weather and was ready for the promise of spring. But I do love a snow day. We had one in early January this year and I quickly journeyed out to my friend’s cabin by Percy Priest to witness and savour the spectacle. Between a great night of warm soup, hot chocolate, snowball fights and VeggieTales rewatches, it was a night that only winter could bring.
As everyone dispersed to their corners of the house, I made a final trek to help feed the horses before making my way to the other side of town. There is something about the little ice crystals falling from the sky in the middle of the night. Something ethereal. Something Holy, that allows for the world to fall into peace. Even so, the coyotes and horses fall into a state of tranquility.
Over the last few months, I’ve been using rain and water as metaphors for grace(specifically in a song which uses imagery of the places I lived in California). But while it works in the sense of baptism, I think snow is a much more accurate description of what it feels like to be showered by grace.
Grace(and by extension compassion) is something that much of our society has forsaken. It is so easy for us to hold onto our pride and hold contempt for other people. One of the most transformative sayings I’ve ever heard was that everyone is experiencing life for the first time, we’ve never had a practice run, so learn to extend grace to those even if they don’t deserve it. In grace, we let go of our selfishness and focus on other people. G K Chesterton describes the truly insane man to be one rooted in believing in himself, either only in the material world or the fact that he himself is the only thing in such a world. This life is not about the satisfaction of our desires but rather laying down our lives to serve those around us.
There is this old hymn by Annie J Flint called He giveth more that expresses the innate desire of the creator to rain grace down on us:
He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase
To added afflictions, He addeth His mercy
To multiplied trials, He multiplies peace
When we have exhausted our store of endurance
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
The Father's full giving has only begun
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision
Our God ever yearns His resources to share
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing
The Father both thee and thy load will unbear
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure
His power no boundary known unto men
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again
Jesus is the ultimate example of Grace. He was compassionate to the least of these but still held a strength about him that demonstrated what true kindness was. And his demonstration was the ultimate sign of grace and love. John 14 says “There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for his friends” and that’s exactly what he did. And while I’m not saying to physically die for the people around, maybe you should take the life you have and live for them.
I’ve been trying to practice grace by extending it to people in all areas of my life. I try to extend it to bands that play at my venue during soundcheck. Co-workers that sometimes don’t have the best attitudes or aren’t the easiest to work with. The relationships (both romantic and non)I find myself in, recognizing their importance in my life. Grace to my parents and siblings. By giving grace life becomes a lot less stressful and a lot more joy filled.
Most people today reject any semblance of magic in the world today, but there has always been truth in fairyland(that’s why I keep one foot in it). A magic that allows us to experience the miracle such that is life. And that’s special. I think a small part of this magic may be the compassion and grace we can give to another soul. I hope and pray to continue giving grace to those around me in this special miracle called today. It's a holy thing just like the quiet snowfall in an empty field.
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I hope this works as the beginning of a larger conversation on grace especially in our current society and the time of Easter. I'll probably visit it again in the future but I really want to talk about the third installment which has been my favorite thing to talk about lately. The last part for my West Coast Wonderings is about expensive conversations.
