'Grace' – we need it in our lives and in the life of our out-of-joint and often cruel world.
It is easy to recognise – and deplore – its opposite: churlishness, self-centredness, rudeness, anger, violence, unforgiveness, lack of respect or 'civility'. I wonder how many people, if asked what they felt was most needed in their lives and in the life of our out-of-joint and often cruel world, would answer, 'grace'?
It's not a word that features much in the world of politics, or in the language of business or even in debates on social concern. Yet it has the power to assuage so much of the anger and hurt and hopelessness that is out there. As von Goethe said, 'It is the nature of grace always to fill spaces that have been empty.' It can begin to cover some of the meanness and coarseness around. It can oil the wheels of communication with others, allowing new starts in relationships.
I have been following some notes on the subject written by Stephen Rand, who was co-chair of the Jubilee Debt Campaign. One of the points he makes is that grace, by its nature, is unconfined. It is non-discriminating – open to everyone. It is to be offered to, and expended on, our enemies as well as our friends; those outside, as well as inside, our circle; to the 'evil' as well as to the good. And grace, he says, is always prepared to give people a second chance. We all sometimes wish we might be given a second chance in something we have failed in – are we ready to extend that grace to others?
Rand also emphasises the 'fullness' of grace. 'There is nothing penny-pinching, grudging or abstemious here. It is a source that is constantly and instantly replenished. Grace is never out of stock, never in short supply.' And it can break through all the barriers of race, creed, tradition and prejudice. Finally grace is to be shared. We administer grace as we serve others. Also when we give – whether of our time, our hospitality or our money for the needs of others at home or abroad.
One way of getting a handle on grace, I have found, is to deliberately cultivate an environment of thankfulness – an 'attitude of gratitude'. We can start recalling and listing things to be thankful for, perhaps some of those things that we usually take for granted. In many homes and at public functions, people used to say "grace" before a meal. Rand quotes American writer Jackie Windspear, 'Grace isn't just a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal – it’s a way to live.'
In his book What's so amazing about grace?, Philip Yancey stresses that grace is always a gift and never something to be deserved. 'Categories of worthiness do not apply.' Reflecting on this in his own (Christian) experience, he writes, 'I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved a debtor's prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance. I got a banquet.'
It was sheer grace that enabled Dr Ysuf Omar al-Azhari, released from six year's solitary confinement in a Somali gaol, to visit the dictator who had put him there with a message of forgiveness. Cured of his hate after a night of prayer in his cell – but still only after a struggle within himself that took two years to resolve – he sought out the deposed General Siad Barré, now 87 and living in exile in Nigeria. 'I wanted to tell him I forgave him. There were tears running down his cheeks. He said to me, "Thank you. You have cured me. I can sleep tonight, knowing that there are men like you in Somalia".'
How can we acquire this grace that transforms all it touches? How can we add to the store of it in a world that so desperately needs it? It is God's gift. For Christians it is one of the supreme gifts of this period of Easter. The nineteenth century Indian sage Ramakrishna put it like this, 'The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.' We simply have to ask for it. And ask also that it may infuse all we do and be present in all our dealings and relationships with others.
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