Grace Is A Way Of Life

Grace is a way of life as well as theological truth. Grace for living is most clearly seen in those unrehearsed moments when life suddenly makes sense. These are the snapshots in time that pass all too quickly but for an instant remind us that life is purposeful after all. For a preacher, pastor, missionary, and teacher of many years one might expect those grace gifts to occur in the warm glow of evening sun filtered through stained glass windows or in the aftermath of witnessing a “sinner’s” life transformed. But for me, such extemporaneoous ecstasy tends to startle me while worshipping in the cathedral of nature. I had just such a grace gift this morning.

Awakening at 7:00 am in a tent to the sound of nothing but birds alerting other birds that morning is emerging from the night was not the moment but the prelude to it. Wrapping up in a denim blanket-lined jacket and frying sausage and scrambling eggs on a propane cook stove with the aroma of camp coffee invading the crisp morning air was also not the moment but a necessary emotional callisthenic in preparation for the moment. Sipping the best coffee ever brewed, I carefully descended the stair-like path from my camp site to the river a mere thirty yards and upon reaching the rock strewn bank I knelt, balancing coffee cup in both hands. It was then that grace happened. With a raucous call parting the morning mist over the water, a blue heron flew the channel of the river and glided to rest on the opposite bank, daring me to move or in any way question its ownership of that stretch of river. In that instant nothing else existed but the heron and the river and the forest and me, and I was standing in the Garden of Eden with whispers from God in every direction saying, “I made all of this for you—enjoy. And in the enjoying, enjoy Me! All that you see are merely reflection pool images of my true beauty. Each time I grace you with a moment of beauty, be refreshed by My Presence for I am in the center of it. You cannot remove Me from beauty anymore than you can separate a thought from mind. Beauty is grace because I am present in it.”

For those who look and see, grace is a way of life. For those who look but never see, grace is nothing more than a trite and hacknied Sunday School definition, something that you learn but never know. God grant us the grace to discern grace and enjoy Him in the living of it.