Dear friends,
I look out my window and I know that this world, this life, is so much more than I deserve. How could I have earned all the goodness that is poured out daily in front of me? How could I earn the wind through the trees on a sunny day?
On the contrary, I’m keenly aware that I’ve done things, my ancestors have done things, my country has done things to deserve much worse. Far from earning all the good stuff, I’ve done a lot to earn some pretty terrible things that, miraculously, have not happened!
This week’s psalm, Psalm 130, reminds us of God’s constant grace through humanity’s mistakes and cruelty: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.”
An awareness of that grace fills me with gratitude. It lets me not take for granted any of the small joys of life, and it lets me recognize just how much I have been saved from the consequences of my sins. I wish each of you that same sense of gratitude, which enchants the world and gives glory to its Creator.
God’s grace be with us all,
Andrew