Last night as I sat down to spend some time preparing for this morning’s radio show I found myself torn. I was listening to some of the audio I had in the archives from this day 5 years ago and felt a flood of emotion.
(Click here and you'll see what I mean.)
Reliving it again I thought, I don’t I want to do this. It is not a place I want to go.
Then again, it is not wise to take the show in a direction that is out-of-sync with the hearts and minds of listeners. Bobby & Mrs. Grant and I had a few discussions on how to approach the show and came to a consensus that it would be wise to strike a balance between “remembering” and moving forward.
In this space today I find myself thinking about the grace of God. The singer-songwriter Sara Groves says God’s grace is an invitation to be beautiful. She says the Lord has invited us, as mere human beings, to add to the beauty of his plan and creation. She says, if I may quote her here, “the Kingdom of God transcends politics and policy, nationality, gender and race. It transcends the way we do church, and makes us a real live body of believers. It gives us the ability to be very different and still bear with one another. It gives us the power to extend the same kind of grace that has been extended to us, and to love each other with a love that never fails. The very real kingdom of God calls out of us, it’s inhabitants, beautiful art, creative lives, and redemptive work.”
I love that. In a world that feels, at times, very dark indeed, God invites us to “add to the beauty…” Bring light into the lives of others.
Another favorite artist of mine, Phil Keaggy, says he believes the art of being has to do with the art of giving, the art of loving. After all, he points out, “scripture tells us that ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive,’ and that the only thing that really matters is ‘faith working through love.’" To believe we are important for who we are is to believe we have the potential to love and give.
That is something worth reflecting on throughout a day filled with reflection.
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About
- Brad Behan
- ...has spent much of his life on the radio. Lately he has been working from a studio in his home in Colorado. The downside is he doesn't pass any coffee shops on his commute to work so he has to make his own.
