Dear Spiritual Companions,

When is Grace not grace?  When there are strings attached.  We are in the season of stopping and saying thank you for the blessings in our lives.  As we do that I invite you to think about how many of those gifts you earned and how many were simply freely given.  In addition, I invite you to ponder which ones bring more of a smile to your spirit.  I enjoy reaping the harvest of my labors, but somehow the surprise of receiving something I haven’t earned means even more to me.  A sunrise over the Mississippi touches my heart.  An email from a good friend with another bad joke means so much.  A smile from the check out person or someone I pass along the street warms me.  A wonderful day filled with friends or family is truly Grace to me.  I have done absolutely nothing to receive those gifts and I don’t have to pay for them in any way.   I can just marvel at the wonder of life.

I recently attended a funeral service for a family member.  I was struck at how grace was hinted at, but there were strings attached.  The person was assured of now returning to God’s Love, BUT what about the rest of us.  Have we done the work of reconciliation with God for ungodly actions on our part?  Death was not looked upon as gift, but rather as a threat.  My spirit began to shrivel inside of me.  I began to revert back to being a child and my Mother catching me doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing and hearing those scary words, “Wait until your Father gets home!”  I was in fear and trembling until he arrived home.  What would my punishment be?   I don’t remember what my Dad did, but I do remember the fear I felt!  As “The Course in Miracles” states the opposite of love is not hate it is fear.  When Grace is Grace there is only Love, when there are strings attached to grace there is only the Fear of what happens when I get home to God!

The other thing that bothered me with the Service was the fact that only those who were a part of that Church could come to the Table and receive Communion, and only those who were in good standing!  The rest of us could go and receive a blessing, but only if we  received it by holding our body in a certain way.  I cringed and did not go forward.  I honor someone else’s tradition, but I do not honor traditions that are built on strings attached.  There are rules to be followed, there is the institution that has to be saved at all costs, there is this God that has to followed in specific ways or you will not receive the ultimate reward – Heaven.  There isn’t the willingness to accept people as they are in their faith journey.  There isn’t the ability to assure individuals there is nothing wrong with them.  When we understand Grace we are not defined by what we do or not do, but rather by who we are made in God’s Image.  Jesus came to address these issues, not how often you attended church or whether you were worthy to receive God’s Love.  This is true of all the World Religious Leaders who came at a time when a particular culture had lost the message of Grace.  A Grace Full God chooses to reveal the Godly Nature not in one way but in endless ways.  We don’t have to fear what will happen to us if we are not a part of this religion or that one.  Grace tells us we are accepted no matter what we believe or how we worship.  Again there are no strings attached.

The grace less places see each of us as somehow being defective so the leaders or their creeds need to control our behavior.  They have replaced grace with themselves.  The Grace Full places are filled with the notion that there is nothing wrong with us, in fact if we think there is it is there calling to help us eliminate those lies.  What I have discovered in this human adventure is God’s Desire for us to come to the continued realization of who we are in God and the letting go of the mistaken identity we have of ourselves as being in some way bad.  We do not attain heaven, it is given to us.  What we do with Heaven will be up to us and God’s Helping Hand.  To be set free then is to come to realize how God truly works.  The ultimate human dilemma is the notion that there is something wrong with us.  No matter how hard we try we will never do it right so we are out of the god’s club.  It is a vicious life denying cycle of continuing to fall short of God’s Grace.  On the other hand, if Grace is real then not being able to attain our own goodness allows us to accept only God as Good.  This is not a condemnation it is a way out into Love.  We do not attain Love it is given to us.  We do not attain perfection it is already in us.  We are made in the Image of God and nothing will change this fact, no matter who says it isn’t true.

I walked out of that church liberated not by the Minister or having followed the rules.  I was liberated because I knew God Loved me no matter what!  That sounds like God in action to me and I don’t have to wait until I get Home to feel my Parent’s Unconditional Love.  That is Grace to me, how about you?

Peace

Gary