When grace succumbs to guilt
June 7, 2010 | Filed Under Small Talk
Grace is the emergence of goodness when it is least expected.
I have had a few palpable encounters with grace in my life. Transitions from deep darkness to peaks of joy. I’ve seen others experience grace too. I’ve seen grace change lives. I’ve also seen grace denied.
In my experience (personal and observed) one of the most common tragedies in all the universe is for grace to succumb to guilt. Guilt has its place. It can help us improve ourselves. But it can also suffocate. Deaden. Destroy. Corrupt.
It is grace that let’s us see our lives as works in progress.
But guilt deludes us into the false impression that we are a finished product. That we are the sum of our failures. That our value lies in minimizing our mistakes. Guilt can very much be like the person who pulls out a measuring stick to determine the quality of a Van Gogh based on the proportions of it’s background props.
Guilt closes our heart to joy. Guilt numbs. Sterilizes. But grace renews. Breathes life into cold hearts.
Grace gives us the freedom to know ourselves without pretensions of perfection and to chase after all that is good and beautiful with full abandon. And ultimately grace enables us to experience peaks of joy. The greatest things this universe has to offer.
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