Harmony of Grace

Image Source:  Zhang Kaiyv Last week, I wrote about visiting sacred spaces where we are instantly more aware of God's presence with us. You can read that post here:  Sacred Spaces It is great to withdraw to the Sacred Spaces in our lives where we best encounter God. Unfortunately, it is not possible to stay there forever. In the story of Jesus’ transfiguration ( Matthew 17:1-9 ), Peter wants to set up tents on the mountain to prolong his sacred encounter. Peter was the first of many to try and make his sacred space more permanent. When I was sitting on the mountain at the minister's retreat two weeks ago, I would have loved to have stayed in that moment for hours. However, it was starting to get dark and I had another session to get back to. As much as we would like to, no-one gets to stay on the mountain forever. All of us that meet with God in “Sacred Spaces” have to eventually return to the real world. Often, the real world is not a nice place to be. There is ...

Image Source:  Markus Spiske When I was younger, I was only aware of common colours: red, blue, green, yellow, etc. But as I grew up, I encountered a much larger variety of colours that I had no idea even existed: cyan, magenta, turquoise, azure, fuchsia, etc. It is only once we learn about these new colours that our appreciation for the full spectrum of colour really grows. I have noticed how most post-apocalyptic stories (that aim to portray life after everything has fallen apart) are full of bland colours... The landscape is a dusty brown, the clothes are washed-out greys and the lighting is dull. In contrast, stories that describe paradise are often filled with lush green fields, clear blue oceans, yellow sandy beaches and bright sunny days. All we have to do to observe this phenomenon is to look at the impact of a rainbow. Often during rainy, overcast days, the mood of those around us matches the dreary colours of the day. But when the skies clear and the multicolou...

Image Source:  Bryan Minear Today I listened to an episode of the Writing Excuses  podcast. The topic of discussion was how to generate new ideas for stories. The authors encouraged listeners to start with ideas that already exist. Listen to stories. Watch TV. Read widely. Look at things that are already in existence and then use your imagination to invent new ideas or expand on previous ideas in new exciting ways. Many new aspiring authors believe that new stories need to be fresh ideas that have never been thought of before. But some of the best stories are just imaginative takes on already-existing stories. For example, the reason that stories like Shrek have done so well is that it has taken well-known fairytales and created exciting, new stories using the original stories as their inspiration. I believe that we have a similar ability to see God's grace in the ordinary and comfortable. What we seek, we shall find. If we go about our lives not exp...

This year in South Africa we celebrated the 100th birthday of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Although he is unfortunately not with us today, he left a strong legacy that will last for many generations to come. A legacy that perpetuates the values of peace, reconciliation, inclusion, passion and freedom. The Mandela Marathon is an annual event that was inaugurated in 2012 to honour the life and times of arguably one of South Africa's greatest ever icons. The theme of this year's Mandela Marathon was Keep Running the Legacy . As I participated in the event on Sunday, I was inspired to experience many aspects of this legacy in action throughout the duration of the day.  The route of the race is challenging and there were some tough sections where I was tempted to begin walking, but my fellow comrades encouraged me to push through the pain and keep on going, symbolizing the fighting spirit that Mandela epitomized with his life. The amount of support from the many wa...

Image Source:  Aaron Burden I have taken a hiatus from updating my blog for the past 5 weeks. We have just had a mid-year break at the Seminary and upon some reflection, I decided that I would use this opportunity to have as much of a break as possible, not only from academic work and preaching, but also from writing my personal blog and basically doing anything productive at all. Usually during my academic holidays, I would use the extra free time to work on fun projects that I would not usually have time for during the term, such as writing or recording new music, helping out at my home church, catching up on reading, writing new material, etc. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I was forced into a situation where I was unable to do any of the above "holiday work" that I had intended to. A couple of days after arriving in East London, our family received the tragic news of my gran's passing.  I was devastated.  I had no motivation to do anything.  ...

Image Source:  Havilah Galaxy I have a habit of holding my breath whenever I am nervous or stressed. When I realize and take a deep breath, I can physically feel my body relax and my thoughts clear. The last few weeks have been some of the most stressful that I have experienced in a while. I have had assignment submissions, exams to prepare for and car trouble upon car trouble. Walking out of my exam this morning, I felt like I could relax for the first time in a while. I took a couple of deep breaths and could immediately feel my whole body relaxing. It is amazing how breathing has such a calming effect on our bodies during stressful times. Professional sportsmen learn proper breathing techniques in order to perform under pressure and pregnant women are encouraged to breathe during labour. NOOMA - Breathe (YouTube Link) I love the way that Rob Bell addresses it in his NOOMA video titled Breathe . He explains that the Hebrew name for God is essentially 4 words that make u...

On Monday, my wife Mel and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. It was an awesome time of reflecting and celebrating on the past two years of marriage together. The reason I began this blog was to intentionally seek out and write about the harmonies of God's grace in the world around me. There is no aspect of my life where God's grace is more evident to me than in my marriage. This is not a post where I want to brag about how amazing my wife is (even though she truly is the best!) or a post where I reveal the innermost secrets of our marriage.... This is a post where I am acknowledging God's work and grace in my life through my marriage. When I make mistakes and deserve to be scolded, Mel's forgiveness reminds me of Christ's forgiveness. When I feel sad or angry, Mel's ready, loving embrace reminds me of the Holy Spirit's comfort. When I get prideful or boastful, Mel's gentle rebuke reminds me of God's firm, loving hand and Jesus' h...

Image Source:  Paulo Infante I recently listened to a writing podcast by a group of my favourite authors. They spoke about ways to generate new ideas for writing future stories. The authors encouraged listeners to look at stories already in existence as well as everyday things happening all around them and then either use these existing stories to come up with new ideas or expand on the ideas in new and exciting ways. This made me think of what I have been learning to do by writing my blog. I am learning to see God's grace all around me in new and exciting ways. I believe that this is something that we can all learn to do. "I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us." - Anne Lamott This quote sums up my experience of God's grace. It is barely ever the same for everyone. It meets us where we are. Does God want us to all experience grace in exactly the same way? I don...

Image Source:  张 学欢 Why did I decide to start this blog? Why call it Harmony of Grace?  One definition for the word harmony is "living in peace and mutual understanding with others." I have always been fascinated with music and in my opinion, the musical definition of the word harmony has a more accurate depiction of the word's true meaning. In musical terms, a harmony is "a note or group of notes that compliment the notes in the melody (main tune of the song)." There are many different possible harmonies, but if played/sung correctly, they all compliment the melody and emphasize the beauty of the musical arrangement as a whole. When I had my first encounter with Jesus, the concept of harmony became much more real in my life. But how does harmony have anything to do with God's grace? I believe that God's grace can be seen in the world we live in, through various means, as a complimentary harmony to God's nature an...