Quotes About Grace

There is necessary beauty in the world, I understand this. Beauty to attract mates, to attract prey, to attract pollinators. But so much of beauty seems to be bycatch, "unnecessary beauty," waste products of essential processes. The opalescence of the inside of an oyster shell, a rainbow around the moon, a baby's dreaming smile. Profligate beauty is a mystery to me. Sing praises.

Aeschylus. He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.

After all, from the ankles down, I still had it all going on.

Three things come to mind as we look at this text: (1) we are theological amnesiacs; (2) the psalmist reminds us that God really is in charge; and (3) only when we feel weak and helpless, whether young or old, are we vulnerable enough to experience the power and grace of a God who "raises us up on eagle's wings." So, this text is about us, about God and what God does with us when all we seem to be is down.

which is to say the petal of FAITH, and pray, To Our Father Who is Benevolent and Reigns in Heaven, Your names are hallowed and sacred. Contemplate here your faith in the Lord your God and the grace of the Holy Spirit, while giving gratitude for the presence of both in your life and on earth. Embrace the second petal, which is to say the petal of SURRENDER, and pray, Your kingdom comes to us through obedience to your will. Thy will be done. Listen to the voice of your Father that you

rose, which is to say the petal of FAITH, and pray, To Our Father Who is Benevolent and Reigns in Heaven, Your names are hallowed and sacred. Contemplate here your faith in the Lord your God and the grace of the Holy Spirit, while giving gratitude for the presence of both in your life and on earth. Embrace the second petal, which is to say the petal of SURRENDER, and pray, Your kingdom comes to us through obedience to your will. Thy will be done. Listen to the voice of your Father that you may

Dear God, please help me find the strength and love within myself to forgive others so that I may move forward on my path in your service.

Remember always this great commandment that Jesus left for us in Matthew 7:1–2: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged.

Forgiveness is the great equalizer. It costs you nothing but buys you everything.

good Christian, Nelly. What else could I do but forgive him? Though my forgiveness was initially hard to give, I admit

don't be so kind to me, she thought. I don't deserve it.

Conversion is seeing ourselves, and the ordinary people in our families, our classrooms, and on the job, in a new light. Can it be that these very people—even the difficult, unbearable ones—are the ones God has given us, so that together we might find salvation?

Human inheritance is both blessing and curse. And in religious inheritance this paradox is acute. For many of us religion is heavy baggage. Stories of love and fear, liberation and constriction, grace and malice come not only from our own experiences, and our family's past, but from an ancestral history within a tradition. What curses do we need to shed, in the process of growing up? What can we hold to, as blessing?

I believe that where local congregational life is concerned, it is best to give the Holy Spirit all the room we can, because the Spirit has a way of reminding us that what we think is right—even what we think the Bible spells out as right—is not necessarily letter-perfect in the sight of God. If God did not choose to work in ways that confound us, grace would not be amazing. It would not be grace.

We forgive not because it's easy or the right thing to do, but that the choice to forgive is in itself powerful. It's an affirmation, a willingness to take life on life's terms. And a privilege that no one can take from you. It

Climbing the steps to the hotel, Grace paused, taking a long look at Paris, in all its shimmering, enigmatic elegance, wearing the nigh as a beautiful woman wears diamonds.

There is nothing more difficult than simplicity,' Madame added, turning her back on them. 'And therefore, nothing more refined.

Love is self-serving – we do all sorts of things for our own comfort and call it love. But revenge is an intimate thing, don't you think? Would you be willing to enact another person's vengeance?' It was a disturbing manifestation of devotion; one that seeded itself uncomfortably in Grace's imagination.

Paulette shook her head and sighed. In her world Grace had failed to meet the responsibility of her own beauty. This was not just a waste but a sin.

Ladies didn't wake up on the floor, covered in cat.

She had gleaming mahogany hair, cut into a sharp, sleek bob and eyes that were the colour of dark chocolate – huge doe eyes framed by black lashes. Her skin was ivory and her proportions amazing; a thin tapered waist, high full breasts, shapely legs. She walked with such casual sensuality that it was impossible not to stare at her. And she was a woman who was used to being stared at.

Father Paul was at the start of life. His glassy convictions needed protection. They waited patiently until he too, succumbed to the unbearable unevenness of God's will, the sureness of his grace, the darkness of his mercy.

Yet human love, such as that of my husband, can certainly be a conduit for divine love, even for those who do not recognize love's true source. If it is the love of God that we see in the face of Christ Jesus that is promised to pull us through, a love that bears it out to the edge of doom even for the ugly and unlovable such as we are, then the statement that love heals depression is in fact the only light that shines in the dark tunnel.

I don't know why I'm always surprised when God does these things. He is so lavish in His love; it takes my breath away. It really does. Just when we think something has ended, He always shows us a new beginning.