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Dear Glen Morris United Church, 

As I have been following along in the Full to the Brim devotional this week, I am struck by the words of Rev. Sarah Speed, reflecting on prodigal grace: 

What Doesn’t Play by the Rules

I come into the room

calculating

what I’ve done,

as if hurt could be measured,

as if there was a score system,

as if we could say what I owe in return.

I come into the room

ready to apologize,

ready to make amends,

ready to tell you all the things I’ll do to make it better,

but you put your arms around me.

Grace is the ocean

that softens the edges.

Grace is rain in the desert—you’re not sure whether to

laugh, cry, or dance.

Grace is a miracle,

all by itself.

In a scorekeeping world,

grace doesn’t play by the rules.

I come into the room

calculating what I’ve done.

You say there’s grace here.

It feels like a miracle.

I don’t know whether to

laugh, cry, or dance.

 

In a scorekeeping world, grace doesn’t play by the rules. 

I think about the times when it has felt like grace has felt like an injustice - as if it was a reward given to someone who has caused harm. I feel like the brother of the prodigal son, wishing to also receive celebration and affirmation for being the responsible and reliable one. 

Then I remember the times when I have received grace and the power of receiving love, forgiveness, and more simply because of someone’s generosity. I remember that grace has most often appeared in the times and places where I felt broken or disconnected. It is humbling to remember that even when we act with good intentions or imagine ourselves to be “good people” there will always be times where we falter and rely on grace to move forward. 

When we keep score, we can lose sight of the miracle of grace - the way it can transform people: healing shame, enabling connection, renewing our ability to believe in ourselves. Grace is the Holy Spirit’s way of continuing to move through a broken world and proclaim: “I have made this, and it is good.”

In the moments when you are in need of grace, may the peace of Christ be with you, 

In the moments when you are called to offer grace, may the peace of Christ be with you, 

This Lent, may you feel abundantly the grace of God and the peace of Christ. 

 

Yours in Christ, 

Rev Michiko

 

Artwork by Hannah Garrity entitled 'Inexplicable Joy'
Inspired by Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Paper lace