A fresh look at Grace

-
Image Source: Bryan Minear

Today I listened to an episode of the Writing Excuses podcast. The topic of discussion was how to generate new ideas for stories.

The authors encouraged listeners to start with ideas that already exist. Listen to stories. Watch TV. Read widely. Look at things that are already in existence and then use your imagination to invent new ideas or expand on previous ideas in new exciting ways.

Many new aspiring authors believe that new stories need to be fresh ideas that have never been thought of before. But some of the best stories are just imaginative takes on already-existing stories.

For example, the reason that stories like Shrek have done so well is that it has taken well-known fairytales and created exciting, new stories using the original stories as their inspiration.

I believe that we have a similar ability to see God's grace in the ordinary and comfortable.

What we seek, we shall find.

If we go about our lives not expecting to encounter God's grace in the normality of our lives, chances are that we will miss a lot of what God is doing. On the other hand, if we intentionally seek out God's grace in every aspect of our lives, there is a good chance that we will come face to face with it in ways and places that we would never have thought possible before.

Does God want us all to worship Him in the exact same way? Singing the same songs and saying the same prayers?
Does God not care more about our heart and our motive for worship than the manner in which it is done?

"Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth."
- Psalm 96:1

P.S. This is one of the main reasons why I started writing a blog. I want to challenge myself to see God's grace in more unique ways in the world around me and encourage others to do the same.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

The Laws of Leviticus

-
Image
The second and third passages of scripture that are used to condemn homosexuality and clobber LGBTQ+ people come from the often-read book of Leviticus (sarcasm alert). Before digging into these verses, let’s quote them here: “Don’t lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.” - Leviticus 18:22 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” - Leviticus 20:13 These strong words in the Bible have armed anti-gay protesters with enough content to fill their picket signs with hatred and violence. “Homosexuality is an Abomination” and “God hates fags” and “To death with the gays” are all signs that make regular appearances at Pride parades throughout the world, unfortunately often held up by so-called Christians. Regardless of someone’s belief about homosexuality, I will never understand how some Christians see this as a Christ-like response...
Read more

The Ceremony that Divided the Church

-
Image
Note: A shorter version of this article was first published with the Jesuit Institute of South Africa. Last week Friday, my family sat down to watch the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The French always have a knack for the theatrics and this year was no different. The performances throughout the long ceremony were mesmerizing and provocative. We went to bed that night feeling tired but excited for the Olympic Games that were officially starting the following day. Little did I know that not everyone shared my enthusiasm. The Outrage I woke up the following morning and decided to browse social media (when is this ever a good idea?). My feed was filled with people sharing their outrage at a particular scene of the Olympics’ opening ceremony. A still picture of the ceremony was being shared alongside a picture of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting which admittedly showed a slight resemblance to the original. According to the outraged folk (including some morally...
Read more

Leap of Faith

-
Image
I recently did the Lake Eland Extreme Zip-line with some of my friends from Pietermaritzburg. The zip-line is 1 100 meters long and reaches max speeds of up to 160km's per hour. All that is keeping you from falling hundreds of meters to an inevitable death is 2 cables and a harness that my hysterical brain was telling me would not have been out of place as a car's seat-belt. We arrived early and waited for half an hour as we contemplated our life choices up to this point. Eventually we were all kitted up and ready to go. While I wouldn't say that I have Acrophobia - an extreme fear of heights - as I looked out over the gorge that we would be flying through, breaking the national speed-limit in the process, it is fair to say that my stomach started churning and my legs turned to jelly. It was at this point that I'm sure many of us were trying to think of any reasonable excuse that would get us out of this jump without seeming like a coward. One of the thin...
Read more