Monday, April 19, 2010

Echoes of Grace

4-19-2010

A long, long time ago God created this beautiful world. He poured His love into a creation that He created in His very own image. A long, long time ago God saturated the soil of the earth and the soil of men's hearts with an astonishing type of love. When men ignorantly rejected that love, that love wouldn’t die. A long, long time ago God shouted, with a shout that only God can shout. He shouted one word that would quench the thirsty, fill the hungry, and heal wounds of every kind. That one word is GRACE. God shouted this word and it flew through the blades of the green grass, rang in the deepest canyons, resounded though the wide valleys, and reverberated off the most majestic of mountains. When beauty should have shriveled, it thrived. When men were supposed to fall, they flew. This was a long, long time ago, but even today, thousands upon thousands of years later, this word still echoes through our world. As I was walking down the polluted streets of a torn down world, I saw the radiant smile of a mother as she watched her little girl chase little birds, giggling uncontrollably; echoing grace. I saw a bride marching through the park with her new husband, bound by love; echoing grace. I saw a student smirk with understanding, finally grasping the difficult concepts; echoing grace. I saw a child trip and fall, scraping his knee, only to find a hand above him; echoing grace. I heard a song with the instruments harmonizing to produce a sound that filled me with peace; echoing grace. I ate a food, prepared with simple ingredients, bringing a pleasure to my tongue; echoing grace. I saw the sunset, closing another day, painting the sky with hues of red, purple, and gold. My heart swelled as I realized I was seeing more than natural beauty; I was seeing yet another echo of grace. This world is damaged, filled with screams of pain and confusion, filled with the tears of uncertainty and the sighs of monotony. This world is hurting, but I see smiles despite the pain; smiles that echo the same word that was spoken the moment the creation began to crumble. Grace. It’s more than a word, it’s more than a means to a life eternal. Grace. It is that beauty that lies in front of you, that love that you cannot contain, that smile that lifts in spite of your circumstances. It is the simple pleasures that get you throughout the day. It is that tingle that shoots up your spine, and that breath that calms your tired soul. Grace. It was spoken a long, long time ago by the only One capable of saying such a word. Today it echoes all around us, reminding us that we are more than just another creation, reminding us of the love within us and the astounding love outside of us. I hear them, I feel them, I see them, I smell them, I taste them; these echoes, these echoes of grace testifying of a love so much greater than myself; a love that cannot be stifled; a love that will last forever.

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