Grace Breaks In

In an old BC Comic Strip, the caveman poet sits under a tree and pens the following poem:

“When nobody seems to love you,
and trouble is everywhere,
When skies turn dark above you,
and joy turns to despair,
When everything just falls apart,
and no one seems to care,
Just look deep inside your heart, 
and know that God is there.”

Most often, that is easier said than done. 

At the same time, it is also true that in the darkest moments of life our souls are most open to God’s in-breaking grace.

Christian Theologian Paul Tillich once wrote, “Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness . . . It strikes us when our disgust for… our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear when the old compulsions reign with us as they have for decades . . . Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: ” ‘You are accepted. . . .'”

I pray that in the tough moments of life, you would experience that grace. And, may you know in the deepest part of your being, even now, that you are loved and accepted. 

Let us pray: Keep our hearts open, O God, to the gift of your grace. We love you, Lord. Amen.