Another Fall from grace?
Yesterday the news was all about Michael Irvin's latest failing. This morning we hear about another crooked politician http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/29/national/29indict.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1133273046-d4qISdnNpUwI0qR4aD/TgQ. And true to form for the way things are, it's a Republican in trouble. Which makes sense since they control Congress. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This guy will probably end up in federal prison (just like my state's last governor!), and folks on Air America will have a field day kicking him while he's down. They'll rail about the hypocrisy of Republicans and conservatives. And the pundits will use the cliche about his fall from grace.
But as Kurt put it so well yesterday, our failings aren't a fall from grace. They are precisely the place we need to fall to grace. Those who are perfect have no need of grace. Only we who are human. Cliches can be vapid, but there is one cliche, that, even over-used, still speaks powerfully. To err is human, to forgive divine. It's not grace we fall from; it's the heartfelt acknowledgement of our need for grace that transforms that we fall away from. When someone else screws up we beat the crap out of them, and then when we do the same we demand folks cut us some slack. Not to change, but to continue the same old sh**. That's a cheap grace that kills. Think about it. If you never took another dump how long would you survive? True grace is the freedom to be cleansed. And that grace is offered to us over and over again, day by day.
So I lament the latest of Michael Irvin's escapades, and am angry at Rep. Cunningham's brazen graft. But I see them as they are. Not looking through rose colored glasses that excuses their behavior, neither will I write them off as hypocrits. Hypocrisy isn't the cause of this. It's our fallen nature. We can never rise above our human weakness except by the grace of God. There but for the grace of God go I.
This guy will probably end up in federal prison (just like my state's last governor!), and folks on Air America will have a field day kicking him while he's down. They'll rail about the hypocrisy of Republicans and conservatives. And the pundits will use the cliche about his fall from grace.
But as Kurt put it so well yesterday, our failings aren't a fall from grace. They are precisely the place we need to fall to grace. Those who are perfect have no need of grace. Only we who are human. Cliches can be vapid, but there is one cliche, that, even over-used, still speaks powerfully. To err is human, to forgive divine. It's not grace we fall from; it's the heartfelt acknowledgement of our need for grace that transforms that we fall away from. When someone else screws up we beat the crap out of them, and then when we do the same we demand folks cut us some slack. Not to change, but to continue the same old sh**. That's a cheap grace that kills. Think about it. If you never took another dump how long would you survive? True grace is the freedom to be cleansed. And that grace is offered to us over and over again, day by day.
So I lament the latest of Michael Irvin's escapades, and am angry at Rep. Cunningham's brazen graft. But I see them as they are. Not looking through rose colored glasses that excuses their behavior, neither will I write them off as hypocrits. Hypocrisy isn't the cause of this. It's our fallen nature. We can never rise above our human weakness except by the grace of God. There but for the grace of God go I.
posted by Wake of the Flood at 8:07 AM
4 Comments:
hi kurt & brother. this is a very interesting post: "Another Fall from grace?" i love it.
i know who you guys are, sort of, i see you post on alice's blog.
i'm sorry if you have said this somewhere and i just haven't seen it but is your title a reference to third day's "These Thousand Hills" ? that song gives me goosebumps; i love it so much.
um, and i fixed the post about 1 Samuel, i was mixing up Samuel and Eli. anyways.
one more thing: sometimes it is hard to tell online, what were you trying to say when you were talking about the voices... were you mocking me, or where you saying that you think you hear God's voice?
You were created by and with the grace of GOD. You already possess that Grace; all the tools necessary to rise up from whatever nature you have fallen...
I LOVE that Man in Black tune...and for the record, I thought Walk the Line was worth paying full price to see~
Hi Paul, thanks for coming by. It is not my nature to mock. Sarcasm is definitely a favorite tool however. This is Kurt, BTW. Brother is much gentler - I think it comes with age;)
Actually, my comment about voices on your site was an attempt to be subtle and say I know the story you referred to as well as be a little off the wall. Which leads to the title of this blog -
Yep, that Third Day song is the reference, along with the Dead song Ripple. And while not all Deadheads ingested copious amounts of tiny bits of paper or liquid from eyedroppers (see brother), this one did. So it wasn't unusual to hear voices...
But seriously (that is so hard to say and mean), I believe that we are able to hear/sense/perceive the voice of God in our lives, if we are willing to listen/seek/meditate/pray (pick your word). And that's when the fun really begins, because that's when we have to decide whether to listen/heed/follow/submit or ignore/disobey/sin/acknowledge.....
ok. it all makes sense now. thanks for sharing. i agree with what you are saying, and i love the way you said it. i am listening to ripple right now. i had never heard of it till today. i found this site interesting: http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/ripple.html
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