Grace and more Grace

Friends and fans, sorry for the long hiatus. I have missed you guys and am thrilled to be back in the blogosphere. Writing has consumed my spare time. You will be seeing the results here on the blog and on Amazon, as well.
     I have recruited a talented young lady, (Victoria Orlopp  / AKA Torrey) who has graciously  agreed to come on board and lend me her talents as she puts together the cover art for my writing projects.
     Those of you who have read The Note will recognize the new cover. She used the motif of hands with a water color background of red tones fading into yellow to represent sin falling into grace. I think she has done an excellent job and am looking forward to the creativity she will bring to the table.
     I have been giving tons of thought to the concept of grace over the last few days. Phillip Yancey calls it our last great word. In his classic work, What's So Amazing about Grace? He shares how words, over time morph and the way they are used changes, as well as their meaning.
     In 1611 translators working on The King James Version of the Bible  used the term grace to share the redemption and restoration offered in Christ. That was over 400 years ago, and the word means the same thing today, and is used in the same way now as it was then. It truly is a great word.
     We live in a world that is starving for grace. When relationships are strained, grace brings restoration. When lines have been crossed and boundaries are broken grace has a way of putting it all back together. When our children disappoint us, grace brings them back home and when a marriage struggles, grace offers a healing balm. Because I'm flawed I continue to be a recipient of grace and have found it in both Heavenly and earthly places.
     That being the case, here's the rub. Why is it that we who have received grace, have a hard time bestowing it? If the premise be true, does that not suggest hypocrisy of the highest order?  Please, don't be offended, and before you right me off let me confess that I am guilty.  
    I think it's a product of the fall. The Curse of Adam raising it's ugly head. Something innate longing for a pound of flesh.  Revenge, if you will. And sadly enough, it's easily justified. Like Pharisee of a new day we've become keepers of the gate.  It leaves me wondering: What if, as followers of Christ, we reciprocated grace?
     When I was eleven years old my father showed grace on an occasion that demanded justice. It proved to be an experience from which I have yet to recover. An experience used ten years later, as I responded to the Gospel.
     The Note draws a portrait showing what grace looks like to someone who was not raised in church, yet recognized the blessing when it came.