{"id":146,"date":"2011-10-12T23:21:35","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T23:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=146"},"modified":"2011-10-13T00:22:19","modified_gmt":"2011-10-13T00:22:19","slug":"field-notes-on-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/field-notes-on-grace.html","title":{"rendered":"Field Notes on Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"
Here is a conversation starter: \u00a0Where did you last experience “grace” and what did it look like?<\/div>\n

In the spirit of Stanley Hauerwas’ latest book,\u00a0Working with Words,\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0is one Christian theologian’s exploration of language about God, I want to propose a conversation around “grace” and where we encounter it in the world. \u00a0This is not a conversation only for Christians.\u00a0\u00a0It’s for everybody everywhere- and I’m looking for your input regardless of creed or lack thereof.<\/p>\n

“Grace” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and I quote, is: “unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification…a virtue coming from God…<\/em>a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace…approval,\u00a0favor,\u00a0\u00a0mercy,\u00a0pardon…a charming or attractive trait or characteristic…a pleasing appearance or effect\u00a0:<\/strong>\u00a0charm…ease and suppleness of movement or bearing…used as a title of address or reference for a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop…a short prayer at a meal asking a blessing.”<\/p>\n

So the invitation is to share how you have experienced “grace” lately wherever that may be- even in church.\u00a0\u00a0If you haven’t experienced grace lately, you can share how you\u00a0imagine<\/em>\u00a0“grace” to be.<\/p>\n

I’ll start. \u00a0The other day my family ended up, a bit bored and hungry (it was around lunchtime), at our local playground. \u00a0We soon discovered that a mega birthday party for someone we had never met was about to take place. \u00a0There were the bouquets of balloons, bounce houses, snow cone machine, tables of food and pony ride. \u00a0All for a guest list we were not on.\u00a0 This was most evidenced by the fact that every person\u00a0showing up to the party was\u00a0a well-dressed\u00a0African American carrying a large present for the now one-year-old birthday girl\u00a0who would never remember this extravagant fun.\u00a0 In short, the whole affair was over-the-top in a wonderful, serendipitous way, and we had stumbled into it.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, we felt a bit out of place:\u00a0while the playground appeared to be still\u00a0open to the public, we had stepped into a private, invitation-only celebration.\u00a0 We wondered whether we should go.\u00a0 Our kids were hoping to stay and play.\u00a0 And so we had lingered just a bit, all the while wondering when would be our cue to leave.<\/p>\n

Just then, the mother of the girl walked\u00a0over to me, the obvious interloper.\u00a0 I wondered if this was it- the time when we would be told that the playground had been reserved for the occasion and we needed to leave.<\/p>\n

I asked her about the cause for celebration.\u00a0 She told me. And then the unexpected happened: “You all are welcome to stay and join us for the party. We’ll have snow cones and lots of\u00a0food.\u00a0 Help yourselves to everything! And there will be a pony ride, too.”<\/p>\n

And so we had stayed.\u00a0 Uninvited, ill-prepared but lavishly welcomed nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Got an intelligence report on grace?\u00a0 You can either post\u00a0it in the comments section below or e-mail me\u00a0at (kristinarobbdover@gmail.com<\/a>); I’ll share it at the end of the week!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is a conversation starter: \u00a0Where did you last experience “grace” and what did it look like? In the spirit of Stanley Hauerwas’ latest book,\u00a0Working with Words,\u00a0which\u00a0is one Christian theologian’s exploration of language about God, I want to propose a conversation around “grace” and where we encounter it in the world. \u00a0This is not a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[115,114],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grace","tag-grace-2","tag-stanley-hauerwas"],"yoast_head":"\nField Notes on Grace - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Field Notes on Grace - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here is a conversation starter: \u00a0Where did you last experience “grace” and what did it look like? 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