Grace

As is so often the case, the most basic and most beautiful of ideas and terms from early Christianity have been turned into complicated theological propositions that are hard to grasp and even more difficult to practice. Such is the basic term “grace.” My early memory of the theological meaning taught me was that grace meant: “unmerited favor.” God gave us favor (or grace) even though we were unworthy and didn’t deserve it. We, therefore, should be almost ashamed, grateful for sure, and relieved to receive it. And on it went… Now I see this is a totally misguided and inadequate explanation.

Grace is simply loving generosity of spirit. The spirit and temper of Divine Reality is abundance and generosity. God loves to give unstintingly. This is in the very nature of the Divine. To be generous is to be Divine.

You have known generous people, of course, whose hearts and lives simply give and give—such is their inner constitution (their inner nobility). That is grace! That generous self-giving heart and attitude that wants to give itself away for the good of others without precondition or hesitation is grace. And that is the way God is, and that is eternal love always, which is always there for us, and teaching us this grace. It therefore has implications for the way we live.

As Jean-Yves Leloup says this may explain one of Yeshua’s more difficult sayings: To the one who has, more shall be given. To the one who has not, even that little bit shall be taken away. He says, “What this means is this: to those who have charity, the capacity to give, openness of heart, everything shall be given. But to those who have not this capacity, everything shall be taken away because they have lost the gift.” Perhaps, then, until they can relearn it.