Grace, She Takes The Blame
Four Gs: God is Gracious
Grace, she takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name
Grace, it’s the name for a girl It’s also a thought that changed the world And when she walks on the street You can hear the strings Grace finds goodness in everything
Grace, she’s got the walk Not on a ramp or on chalk She’s got the time to talk She travels outside of karma She travels outside of karma When she goes to work You can hear her strings Grace finds beauty in everything
Grace, she carries a world on her hips No champagne flute for her lips No twirls or skips between her fingertips She carries a pearl in perfect condition
What once was hurt What once was friction What left a mark No longer stings Because Grace makes beauty Out of ugly things
Grace makes beauty out of ugly things
– Bono
This is my favorite poem. Whenever I feel particularly unlovable I listen to it. I read it. I let it wash over me and remind me that “grace makes beauty out of ugly things.”
When we come face to face with overwhelming beauty we are often reminded of our own ugliness. I’m not speaking of what is on the outside when I say beauty. What I mean is when we are confronted with that deep inner beauty that some possess we so often believe ourselves to pale in comparison.
Christ is the height of that beauty. Christ is the pinnacle of an inner beauty that shines a light on us and makes us wonder what kind of person we really are.
When faced with the overwhelming beauty of Christ we can often feel ugly. Naturally, there is a sense of shame that invades our being. By Christ’s great light we see every imperfection, every failure, and falsehood.
For us to see those things we have to be looking at ourselves.
When we raise our eyes from ourselves to the beauty of Christ we find something else. We discover grace.
Grace is easily defined as “unmerited favor.” We get something we don’t deserve.
But, it’s more than that. Grace makes beauty out of ugly things.
Grace is living, active, it draws us in and changes our gaze. It is in the context of grace that we realize that we are loved completely, wholly, and without reservation by the God of the universe in Christ.
God is gracious, therefore I don’t have to prove myself.
When we grasp this reality we are freed to love. No longer do we have to run around trying to earn God’s favor. It is in the context of grace that we are able to simply love for the sake of loving. We can care for the sake of caring. There is room to be fully present with our neighbors and our enemies.
Grace, “it’s a thought that changed the world.”