Grace is like snow...

(the back patio of my home in the Sunday night snow, March 1)

Last Sunday night was one of the most exquisite evenings I've ever had. I was grateful to be home safely after driving back on sleet-covered highways. Grateful to be safe and warm and oh, so blessed. And then the snow started. It was one of the most beautiful snows I have ever seen. And my back yard -- already full of spring flowers--was transformed.

I felt a holy hush as the snow was pouring down---big, beautiful flakes. And as I stood on my back patio, I felt covered by a breathtaking, poignant, rich silence as God beautifully transformed everything I could see into a lovely winter wonderland. And, once the snow had fallen, everything looked different.

I believe grace has that same transforming power. We United Methodists -- of all people--should be the experts on grace. We are well versed in the Wesley theology of the grace that goes ahead of us (prevenient grace), the grace that covers our sin (justifying grace) and the grace which continues to call us to a whole and holy life (sanctifying grace). Grace, like snow, covers everything. And grace, like snow, is tansforming.

Once we have experienced grace and received grace, everything looks different. Receiving grace changes the way we see ourselves and others.

And maybe grace is like snow in one other way -- we apparently don't have receive it very often. Like snow, I believe grace shows. And our constantly ungraceful lives betray how little of God's amazing, abundant grace we allow to cover our souls.

Once the snow had fallen, everything looked different -- beautiful in a new way. Once grace covers our hearts, our outlooks are transformed with beauty, too. The difference is a wonder-filled beauty. Something that shows.

(the view just outside my back door Monday morning, March 2, 2009)