Prayer is not asking for things. Prayer is gratefulness, recognizing the tidal waves of love that God is pouring on you every moment.~Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The fruit inside you ripens only with the shedding of tears. When you reach the place of tears, then know that your spirit has come out from the prison of the old world and has set foot upon the path to the new age. As your spirit begins to breathe the wondrous air of that place, you shed tears. The birth of the spiritual child is at hand, and the travail of childbirth becomes intense. Grace, the mother of us all, gives mystical birth to the soul, God’s image. When the time for this birth arrives, the intellect senses the other world as a faint perfume, or as the life-breath a newborn child receives into its body. Hardly able to endure it, our flesh is overcome by a weeping mingled with joy.
~St. Isaac the Syrian, 7th Century
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
~ 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Grace!
Grace!
Oh thank You G_d for Your Grace!
Oh friends, behold the beautiful, gorgeous, engorging, encouraging, empowering, comforting, healing, changing, cleansing, making, forming, flowing, enriching GRACE of G_d.
Even as we begin to experience His Grace, we come to realize that it is Grace that even lets us come to Him in the first place. And in this moment, our jaws drop open. Who are we to be the recipients of such favor from the One who we only have offended!?!?
He is so good to us. As we scream out in the pain of our tears, and our spirits are almost rent by the pain in our lives (both that that comes upon us, and the pain we have poured on others), He somehow pours back into us Life. This Life is not some replacement for the tears we shed, but some catalyst for transforming them from bitter to sweet.
We hurt, and somehow He brings to bear His manifold panoply of Goodness to turn that hurt into something incredibly meaningful and good in His economy. He pours out His power onto us and into us that we might turn more fully to Him for the only real source of comfort that exists – Himself.
And as He empowers us to move through these moments, and draw near to Him a gorgeous by-product is born. Courage.
He fills our hearts with courage as we lean up and near and close to Him. We look out from under the great comfort of His everlasting arms and see a world that too is hurting. And somehow, we suddenly want to be able to share the comfort we have been given with others.
What is this? Minutes ago, we were blinded by our own pain. And minutes later He has set our eyes on Him, filled us with everything we need, put our feet on solid footing and given us verdant vision for a future of loving others with the Love we have been given.
This, beloved, is Grace.
