Crazy Grace

I once imagined this continuum. On one extreme was “TRUTH”. This was a capital T truth. The kind of truth that stood throughout the ages as beacon of light, the kind of light that reminded you of the light shown by the state trooper as he pulls over your minivan late at night, a light that you could not look at and could not see through. This was the kind of harsh truth.  The opposite side of the continuum was grace. Grace was written in all small letters with no bold accents, just grace in its overwhelming simplicity and quietness. The true measure of love I thought was found right smack dab in the middle of the grace/truth continuum.

Then, I saw the butterfly.  There is very little as sad as a butterfly lying dead on the sidewalk with its beautiful wings perfectly still.  Like a moment of beauty frozen for all to see and examine, except it is dead. It is dead and in a few minutes the ants will come and swarm all over its tiny body taking pieces of it home to feed the others.  In just a few minutes the beauty will be destroyed. In just a few minutes, neither grace nor truth will matter much.

The TRUTH is that the butterfly was an insect. It had lived and having served its purpose it had died. The pieces of it would be reused to fuel new creatures whose bodies would be reused to fuel other new creatures.  The grace was that for a moment an enormous piece of beauty had drifted through the world bringing happiness to those who saw it, providing metaphors to those who sought them, and reminding others that there is a hope. Now this particular metaphor has left but many, many others exist to take its place.

And all of that is well and good. Truth and grace exist along a continuum and we get to choose in any given moment which side of the spectrum we will favor.

Except grace isn’t the opposite of truth. Grace is the truth. Grace is love in action. Even though I try and try to do the right thing, my attempts are as dirty as the dead butterfly. There are days when I just want to give up and quit being me because I am quite sure there isn’t enough grace along any continuum to make dealing with myself palatable. But then, I am reminded of the TRUTH. The truth is that I am beloved of God. The truth is that even in all my pitiful attempts to do and be and act like what I think it will take to be loved, I am already abundantly loved.

See, like that butterfly that died on the sidewalk, I am valuable to God. I am just as valuable to God as that person over there who never loses their keys. I am just as valuable to God as that woman who sings so beautifully or that man who creates art that makes others hearts sing. But even more important than who I am is who we all are. We are all the beloved of God.

I don’t know what your issue is. I am painfully aware of my own issues. But I do know that you are adored by God. And, if you are adored by the being that created the entire universe, you must be pretty special. If you had even the smallest hint of an idea about how wonderful you are, can you imagine how beautifully you would impact the world? Can you imagine being so aware of how much you are loved and then spreading that kind of love, wrapped in truth and grace, to everyone you encounter?  Take a minute and bask in the knowledge that you are loved. Breathe in the freedom of that truth. Now, breath out all the times you’ve messed up. There, do you feel it? That incredible joy?

This is crazy grace. This is abundant love. That while we were still dirty, empty metaphors we were loved with a love that is beyond comprehension. And, love is both grace and truth.

The love we have available to share and to impact the world is limitless. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. The scriptures say that just like we wouldn’t give our children a snake when they ask for an egg, our God will not give bad things to us.  Remember you are beloved and those who are beloved are empowered to love.  Take joy in resting in God’s crazy grace.