Jan 27, 2019
Everyday Grace TODAY
Let me suggest three ways to discover everyday grace.
1. The first is this. Trying to live one day of acceptance. In his book, Love is Letting Go of Fear, Dr. Gerald Jampolsky asks this question: "Have you ever given yourself the opportunity of going through just one day concentrating on totally accepting everyone and making no judgments?" He goes on to say, "Everything we think or say or do reacts on us like a boomerang. When we send out judgment in the form of criticism, fury or other attack thoughts, they come back to us. When we send our only love, it comes back to us."
So I suggest we try that one day this week. Suspend all judgments, spend one day of acceptance and se how, today, this scripture will be fulfilled in our hearing.
2. Second, look of the opportunity in today, even if today is not quite what you had bargained for. A graduate student had gotten his first job, a desk job, he felt (and probably correctly) that it was much beneath his talents and he complained to his friend that he didn't do pencil pushing. His friend was entirely unsympathetic. He just patted him on the back and said to him, "You know, the world is a better place because Michelangelo didn't say, I don't do ceilings."
SO it is. You go through the Bible and Moses didn't say "I don't do rivers." Noah didn't say "I don't do arks." Ruth didn't say "I don't do mothers-in-law." David didn't say "I don't do giants." Paul didn't say "I don't do Gentiles. Mary Magdalene didn't say "I don't do feet." Jesus didn't say "I don't do crosses."
Look for the opportunity today. Even in things you'd rather not do and in places you'd rather not be, today's grace awaits.
3. The third suggestions is this: at least one day, take time to put things in perspective. A man driving to work one morning had a little fender bender occasion with a woman. They both stopped. The woman got out to survey the damage. She was absolutely distraught. It was her fault. She admitted it. And her car was a new car, less than two weeks out of the showroom. She dreaded going home to tell her husband. The man felt sorry for her, but , nevertheless, things had to be done. She had to get the license number, registration papers, and so on. She went back to her car and reached into the glove compartment to get the documents and one of the first papers to tumble our, written in her husbands distinctive hand where these words: "In case of accident, remember honey, it's you I love, not the car." He put things in perspective.
Perspective is the long view of today's grace.
A day of acceptance without judgment, a day of opportunity without complaint, and a day of perspective without fear. These three things make our scripture reading fulfilled in our hearing - TODAY.