As a hospital chaplain, I occasionally led the weekly group meetings about spirituality on the Psych Unit. One week, a resident named Dee joined us. Dee shared that she did not believe there could possibly be a God because if God was real, then she would never have felt as lonely as she did at the deepest point in her depression. While in that room, surrounded by people like Dee who chose to share their faith journey and support one another, I bore witness to God’s presence in Dee’s life. William Willimon has said, “We do no good work in the world that is not subsequent to and responsive to the work that a creative God is already doing.” In other words, all the good that we do is in response to what God is already doing. My personal experience
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Understanding grace allows for us to see the love that God offers the world which God created. Grace is the love that we receive in our own relationship with God. We then allow for this grace to guide us as we reflect God’s love for us in our behavior toward God’s creation and our neighbors. It is the Wesleyan understanding that “Love is the complex, multifaceted force that drives us to engage in the world’s needs in the name of Christ.” By understanding God’s grace we are able to more clearly understand the force that is God. Grace is freedom to the oppressed, working with humanity to liberate all while creating a community of equality. Grace is the unmerited love that God provides, existing amidst and working in partnership with creation from its beginning. Grace is the love, that through sacrifice of Jesus, grants forgiveness to humanity for its sins. Grace is an unconditional love that does not give up on humanity, even when humanity continues to make decisions that leads to suffering. Most of all, grace is a gift from God that we receive and are invited to show to others.
Throughout history, we as the church have engaged and continue to engage in social justice movements that reflect this grace through care toward our neighbors. Latin American liberation theology evolved from a movement in Latin America that saw injustice in the poverty and inequality of
Understanding grace allows for us to see the love that God offers the world which God created. Grace is the love that we receive in our own relationship with God. We then allow for this grace to guide us as we reflect God’s love for us in our behavior toward God’s creation and our neighbors. It is the Wesleyan understanding that “Love is the complex, multifaceted force that drives us to engage in the world’s needs in the name of Christ.” By understanding God’s grace we are able to more clearly understand the force that is God. Grace is freedom to the oppressed, working with humanity to liberate all while creating a community of equality. Grace is the unmerited love that God provides, existing amidst and working in partnership with creation from its beginning. Grace is the love, that through sacrifice of Jesus, grants forgiveness to humanity for its sins. Grace is an unconditional love that does not give up on humanity, even when humanity continues to make decisions that leads to suffering. Most of all, grace is a gift from God that we receive and are invited to show to others.
Throughout history, we as the church have engaged and continue to engage in social justice movements that reflect this grace through care toward our neighbors. Latin American liberation theology evolved from a movement in Latin America that saw injustice in the poverty and inequality of