We all need to take time to be still and meditate. It replenishes our energy, focusses our minds and bodies. In the process we become more aware of ourselves body mind and spirit. Sometimes meditation is easier with a quote or a thought to contemplate that will illicit a reaction in us.
On this page there will be a thought provoking quote or comment to assist you to reflect on your life, your spirituality, your faith and the world we live in. You are invited to dialogue with the post through journalling or meditation or by writing a response to the chaplain at uccm@ualberta.ca. The posts will be updated at least monthly and often more frequently.
These reflections are not meant to tell you what to believe but to provoke reflection which can help you to come to deeper faith or understanding of a topic.
"After centuries of handling and mishandling, most religious words have become so shop worn that nobody's much interested any more. Not so with grace, for some reason. Mysteriously even derivatives like gracious and graceful still have some of the bloom left.
Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve to the taste of raspberries and cram or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.
A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Love somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?
A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that peopel are saved by grace. There's nothing YOU have to do. There's nothing you HAVE to do. There's nothing you have to DO.
The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might nver have been, but you ARE because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't Be afraid. Iam with you. Nothing can ever separate us . It's for you I created the universe. I love you.
There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too."
What idea or line in this quote challenges or puzzles you?
Take time to wrestle and dialogue with that line and hear what it is saying and what your thoughts/reactions and responses to it are.
