Grace: A Peculiar Thing

What can be said about grace?

Is it something we can control? Is it something we can understand, own and dispense? Is it something we can exclude others from? Is it something we can manipulate, manage and market?

This is the problem with grace, because always the answer is no. Grace is a peculiar thing. It offers itself to be known. It offers itself to be enjoyed. It offers itself to be shared. It offers itself to be possessed.

But simultaneously it conceals a secret. We may discover it but we may not fathom it. We may enjoy it but we may not own it. We may know it but we may not understand it. We may share it but we may not dominate it. It is like a precious key to a locked door that we cannot find. The precious key is enough, validates our ownership, and provides us all entrance into all that is good. And everyone has the key.

This is what frustrates the church who may pretend to be the sole proprietor of grace. It knows what it is taking about. It possesses what it preaches. It shares what it has. But only somewhat. Only somewhat. This is the secret.: it doesn’t guard the door. It only has the key, like everyone else.

And this is the terrible secret the church won’t publish. All are included and none are excluded, no matter who thinks they own, know or manage it or not. It doesn’t matter how deep we understand, how loud we preach, or how right we live, it isn’t ours.

For grace only seems to submit itself into our hands.