Amazing Grace

REFLECTION:

When we hear this inspiring song we are neither Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, nor any other religion; we are human.  Amazing Grace is sound that heals. The deep mourning cry of the African slave combined with the lyrics of a British clergyman and naval ship captain, John Newton, bring our ears to their knees with hope. Our world has become more diverse and more multicultural than ever before. In fact, if we open our eyes “that once were blind” we now can see. We can see young people today acting in ways that teach us all about unity. What does it mean that it “Was Grace that taught my heart to fear, and Grace, my fears relieved.”? Perhaps Grace is the Divine giving mankind the ability to act with thought, memory, reason, and skill. In that trust, fear became a possibility, and the heart developed a new capacity. With that, Grace also being Love would not allow the human condition to be saddled with a lifetime doomed to live in fear, “And Grace, my fears relieved.” So as peel away the layers of fortification and shame, and allow Grace in, we heal, “for precious did that Grace appear, the hour I first believed.” So the question we all ask ourselves is how much do we believe in Love? How forgiving of our mistakes are we? Why love? Life can take many twists and turns “through many dangers, toils, and snares,” and we can reach many places where we cannot do it on our own. Where do we turn? We turn to Grace for “T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far, and Grace will lead us home.” In those places where the human condition goes beyond our capability to comprehend we enter into the space where “Grace will lead us home.” It is our home. It is where we begin and end. So we say, “I once was lost but now am found, was blind and now I see.”