Amazing Grace

Grace to you and peace from God our Father

Grace:

favor or good will.

mercy; clemency; pardon: an act of grace.

the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.

Mercy:

compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence

Today the kids and I went to see the movie Amazing Grace. I was warned ahead of time to bring a box of kleenex. City Boy's family has a rating sytem; it's not how many inappropriate scenes for children, rather how many boxes of tissue you may go through during a move. I hadn't heard how many boxes this one would require, and in fact, I'd rather forgotten to pack the tissue so was left snatching up napkins and pretending it was for the popcorn once in the theatre.

I'm happy to report, however, that boxes of tissue were not needed; at least not in my case. Then again, I'm one of the few people who never cried during the Passion of the Christ. Lest you think my tear ducts be clogged, I assure you they are not. In fact, I did cry during the movie...or at least, at the end of it. Nothing can make this girl tear up quicker than a screen full of men wearing plaid skirts, showing off their knees and pumping away on bagpipes to the tune of Amazing Grace. Wouldn't you agree?

In the very first scene we're set up with an act of compassion and grace. There is a horse laying upon the ground, his master is beating him in an effort to make him return to his feet. Darling buried her head into my shoulder immediately, but kept her eyes on the screen. But grace came along in our hero, William Wilburforce, as he stops his carriage and recommends the men allow their horse some time to recover. Grace. He didn't beat the men's faces in like many of us would like to do had we come across that scene. Mercy. They'd deserved it, but hadn't received a brutal punishment for their actions.

But this movie is not really about horses being beaten. It's about slavery and God's amazing grace.

There were roughly over 10 million African's put onto those slave ships. That's a number I can barely comprehend. A ten, with six zeros. I can't even visualize what one million would look like! And yet, over ten million men, women and children were put into shackles and brought in boxes; yes, boxes the size of a coffin; to work as slaves.

The song Amazing Grace was writting by John Newton, a former slave trader. Later in life he gave up his profession and became a minister, speaking out against the slave trade. While it would be our inclination to condemn him and others, John Newton realized that God's grace was upon him. He experienced grace in the form of mercy. Mercy, which is not receiving something that you deserve.

And so it was throughout the movie that I asked myself how many times I'd been shown grace or mercy. And how often do I show it to others? I'm afraid I take for granted the mercy shown to me by others. I'm also far too quick to offer judgement over pardon to those who offend.

I have a challenge to put forth to you. I'm going to recognize when grace and mercy have been shown to me this week. And I'm also going to offer it to others. Will you join me? Will you post here the grace you've received from others?

And...will you share this with a friend? I'd love to see how many acts of grace we can recognize in our lives around the world!