Reflections on God's Love; Grace

God showers down graces upon us at all moments of all days. We may not always have what we want, but we always have what He knows is best for us. At times, that could be nothing (material), but it is then that we are to turn to Him in humility and meekness, begging Him to carry us through the seemingly hopeless times.

The life we have, the breath we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the family we have, our friends and all other people or things in our lives are gifts. That is actually what grace means: “gift.”

God created us out of nothing… try to think about that. No one can actually conceive what it is like really, because our minds can only picture darkness and interpret that as nothing. Try to imagine the absence of darkness, light, air, matter, existence; that is nothingness. Only God existed in the beginning, the ultimate and true existence. Out of this, He brought all that is; think of the trees, beasts, all people, the stars, and galaxies… the universe.

Additionally, and even more amazingly, He created the higher order of the spiritual realm, which is closer to His own nature (though infinitely far from it, seeing as He is infinite). The angels, far above humans in intellect and power, are the handiwork of the Lord of all. Our very own spirits, able to dwell in a physical body while maintaining their spiritual elements, are also of this creation, though different from the angels’ spirits. Angels are pure spirit, while we are both spirit and body. A funny fact a theologian once stated was that an angel could not handle being in a physical body, because they would essentially go insane, just as an animal would not be able to function with a human spirit within it. These are, of course, impossible scenarios, but the point that we as humans are very unique is what needs to be understood from these words.

We, who are so special, were made out of absolutely nothing. There was no matter with which to shape us in the beginning. God first created us from this nothingness, and then decided to love us totally, absolutely, completely, fully. He gave us the earth and all of its fruits, He gave us companions, He gave us humor, and on top of it all, He gave us His only-begotten Son, one in being with the Father. The Father sent the Son, with whom He is so intimately connected, in order to make it possible for us, who have fallen into sin, to have a chance the be with Him in heaven. He did all of this in order that we might have a chance to be in full and intimate union with Him, to be so enveloped in the Holy Spirit (the love “between” the Father and the Son, which is the third person of the Trinity) that we are no longer separate from God but are united with Him forever.

How can we, who are simply nothing, acted upon by the Lover of our souls, sin against Him who keeps us alive and gives us all we can possibly conceive of having? How can we sin against Him who suffered and died on the cross for us, that we may be able to love Him back?

Our free will is the mode by which we can choose to sin. Some may ask how we can do anything wrong if all we receive is grace, and it is because of the grace called, “free will.” God allows us to choose Him or to choose things contrary to Him because, if there were no choice, then there would be no love. One must choose to love another, and we must choose to love our Lord back. This is what happened in the beginning, with Adam and Eve. They had all of the grace that one could hope for but, because of the dignity accorded to all of God’s children, they were given a choice as well. They fell, just as we now fall every day.

Let us re-evaluate our lives, brothers and sisters, in order to find a way to eliminate sin from all our days. It is foolish to have pride, and here is an analogy to help us understand why:

God creates us, clothes and feeds us, places us on a road, and puts many forks in that road. At each fork, there is a “red light” and a “green light.” Of course, the green light is the path towards Him, and the red light is the path away. When we choose the green light and are proud of ourselves, it is as if we are saying, “Wow, look at me. I have chosen the right path.” The right path is obviously the better path, and it was laid out for us by the Lord. How can we be proud of ourselves for following the reasonable road? We should not think ourselves better than anyone else, because some are simply at a fork a little further back on the road. The only reason that we “got this far” is because God brought us here. Instead, let us guide others through the forks and so bring them closer to Christ.

Rejecting pride, we turn to you Lord, and we fall on our knees before You. Judge us not by what we deserve, Lord, but have mercy on us and open our hearts to the movements of Your Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus led people to holiness, even on the road to Calvary, may we, too, by carrying our cross, lead others into holiness. Amen.