Christian Grace

Yesterday, Goshen’s sky was icy cold. It isn’t possible to take a picture of the temperature,  but the clouds in the sky look “icy” cold to me.

Today it is warmer on earth and it is snowing as predicted.  I do not apologize for being ready for Spring. I still hope for Spring, though Winter must come first.  Sometimes Winter seems to be graceless.

Ada Grace and Edgar Burkholder

Gerald G. May wrote in “Addiction and Grace” that hope is a child of grace. That makes me think of females, and mothers. So,  Grace  is a name appropriately given to baby girls, as is Hope also.

Ada Grace was the name given to the eldest of the seven girl cousins born in the big house on the hill above my birth home. The mother of her six sisters and five brothers was also Ada Grace. I knew her as Aunt Ada

A few years ago cousin Grace and I talked by phone, and as I recall, she had read one of my books. She said that she was saddened because of the kind of church our parents needed to live in.  It was a graceful thing to say. Tonight I honor her by pondering grace.

Mary Grace and Harold Shenk

This triggered thoughts about other graceful women named Grace. Among them is Mary Grace Shenk  who served as secretary of the Southeast Mennonite Conference.  This made her a member of the Executive Committee of the conference. She was the only woman  executive and served gracefully.

Grace is more than the name of a person or of a church like Grace Brethren. Meaning of words is determined by usage.  Grace can be an adjective that describes a persona as being  elegant,  with beauty of form, manner, motion, or charm, not limited by gender, nor by anyone’s name.  It may describe the action of a man or a  superior, such as a favor dispensed by a dean, a governor or other executive.

Pastor Eve McMaster leads congregation to new meeting place

The authors I am reading wrote of grace as a redeeming quality of Deity.  In some parts of the Bible God appears fierce,  cruel, unforgiving and unrelenting. But not Jesus.  Jesus came to correct such misrepresentations of God.

No matter who wrote the Gospel of John or when it was written, John 1:14, declares that the Word was full of grace and truth.  I have answered the “what is truth” question by saying that Jesus came to show and tell the truth about grace.

With grace, Jesus conversed with women, touched lepers and dead bodies, and called Judas to follow him when he knew he would betray him.

Joy and peace will come on earth when it is peopled with men and women  filled with grace and truth.  That was the message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas. Joy and peace was promised to men and women of good will.  Goodwill could solve the problems among the legislators in Washington, between Obama’s administration and the congress, among Muslim factions  everywhere on earth.   On this Christmas season I echo the angel’s promise of peace on earth among all people of goodwill.