Treasure Grace - Be Nice to YOU!

This week our Lenten reflections focus on treasuring grace.  When I am told to focus on grace, I am immediately reminded of others who need for me to show grace.  I seldom think about the grace I need to show to myself.  My young friend Kristin posted this sign on her blog many weeks back, and it made me stop and think.  What is it that distinguishes self-love from self-centeredness?  I think the answer is wrapped up in a deeper understanding of God's immeasurable grace. Does God really love me?  Do I? Why are we so hard on ourselves some days?

My daughter is training for a triathlon and has followed up learning to run (the last 2 months) with learning to swim (starting today).  Yes, she knew how to run before, but not how to run.  And yes, I enrolled her in swimming lessons as a child, but she doesn't yet know how to swim.  It is so easy when we are pushing ourselves into new territory to be down on ourselves.  To wonder why we aren't better at what we are trying to do.  To criticize our own efforts, feel defeated before we've half begun.  I am so incredibly proud of her attitude displayed on her blog.  What a brave woman ... just jumping right in to the deep end and trusting her body and her will to take her further than she knew she could go.

Be nice to yourself today.

God's Mercy Is Wider than Our Own

At Sunday Vespers this week Bernie Archer mentioned that while in England he had picked up a Faber Hymnal containing all the original verses of many Faber hymns which we sing today.  I was not nearly as familiar with Frederick Faber as Bernie obviously is, but his enthusiasm sent me on a journey to learn more.  

The hymn "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy" which appears in our Chalice Hymnal was originally titled "Come to Jesus."  Our hymnal has only four verses of the original 13, which is understandable given our modern tendency to sing only 2-3 verses of any hymn most Sundays. But in this case, it's too bad.  Because back in 1854 when Faber penned the lyrics he had much to say about grace, including these challenging words:

There is grace enough for thousands
Of new worlds as great as this;
There is room for fresh creations
In that upper home of bliss. 

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.

But we make His love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify His strictness
With a zeal He will not own.

Enjoy the performance above of the Birmingham Boy's Choir as they share a rendition of this Faber classic. I found it incredibly beautiful and the last verses are particularly touching. Truthfully, it makes me think of Bernie's sparkling, grace filled eyes passionately talking about the love of God at Elder's meetings.  In the picture to the right you can't see those eyes, because Bernie is laughing at something Jim Holiman said about the Great Trinitarian Controversy.

I love this church.

Astonished!

"Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished." -- Mary Oliver

There is much to be said for just paying attention.  Some mornings I walk into our sanctuary to retrieve something and suddenly turn around to notice the sun coming through this window in a way that never fails to take me by surprise.  It is astonishing the beauty that surrounds us every moment.  A ray of sunlight, a pure note sung by our neighbor, an infant's smile, or light streaming through blue glass.  Allow yourself to be astonished today!

Promises, Promises

"Promises, promises."  Usually these words are spoken with a voice of resignation and a healthy dose of skepticism.  The expectation is that promises made will not be kept.  "I'll come back and take care of that mess later, I promise."  "I'll never do it again if you just forgive and forget one more time ..."  "I'll clean up after the puppy and feed him EVERY day, you'll never have to do ANYTHING.  I PROMISE." 

Oh yeah.  Promises, promises.

Human beings are notorious for their inadequacies in keeping promises.  But scripture assures us this is not true of the promises of God.  When governments seethe with corruption, neighbors violate covenants, friends vanish in times of trouble, lovers' hearts grow cold, and even a mother's bond with her child fails ... God's promises remain.

At Vespers this last Sunday night our discussion of treasured covenants led to comparisons between the legal standing of dependent and independent covenants. (It is a University congregation ... law professors show up sometimes. What are you going to do?) As it was explained to us, the basic difference is that in a dependent covenant each party has made a promise "if you do this, I am obligated to do that."  In an independent covenant, the responsibilities of each party in the covenant are NOT dependent on the behavior of the other party.  "I said I would do this as landlord, and regardless of the tenants' behavior, I will do as I said."  That sort of thing.  You see where this could get one into trouble, don't you?

We like to have guarantees in writing that everything will be fair and recipricol.  I will pay you rent AS LONG AS you keep this apartment safely heated, and water running, and no rats in the walls.  I don't want to be obligated to pay you when you aren't providing what you promised anymore.  And by the same token, the landlord doesn't want to properly care for a building where tenants regularly ignore their obligations to use the premises properly and pay their rent on time.  The same is true in business relationships, neighborhood zoning regulations, even family dynamics.  At what point do you say, "Enough is enough! This is not what you promised."

God's promises of grace, love and forgiveness, not to mention the gifts of abundance available to us from the good earth God entrusted in our care ... are far beyond what any measure of fairness would allow.  The prophets testify to this again and again.  Our grieving, rejected, taken-for-granted-again God turns toward us continuously with a heart filled with love.  Not because of our promises kept, but because the holy covenant God chooses is of the independent kind.  It is God alone who loves us with a "love that wilt not let us go."  And that's a promise.