Grace…this is either looked upon as an old-fashioned word with little meaning to today’s youth, or it is a gesture on the part of money lenders that is sought after by people in financial trouble. Either way, not many people use this term in everyday conversation. It’s a different story to Christians who thank God for His undeserved grace in sending Jesus as the Savior of the world. They not only talk about grace, but they sing about it!
When I think about grace as the prayer of thanks before a meal, I can’t help but remember Jimmy Stewart’s prayer in the movie Shenandoah. He more or less told God that he and his family had cleared the land, plowed the soil, planted the seeds, and gathered the crops and cooked the meal…but he would thank God anyway for his wife’s sake. However, by the end of the movie, he realized all too well that it is by God’s grace that any of us survive the evil around us caused by war, greed, hatred, etc.
We are using a new method of dealing with conflicts in our school this year. Our physical education teacher discovered this method being used successfully by a coach. There are six steps in the process, but they are: hands out; explain; listen; brainstorm; shake; and compliment. I’ve already used this once during this first week of our school year. It worked beautifully. When I told my husband about it, he pointed out some things I hadn’t thought about.
The first step required the students to face each other with hands out in front and palms facing up. That step is so important, according to my husband (clinical therapist), because it strikes a welcoming pose. Think about it: Jesus held out His hands in that fashion as He taught; parents hold out hands with palms up to welcome a small child into their arms; we show palms up to assure someone we mean them no harm. Such a pose disarms the situation immediately.
Our world has become somewhat hardened and shell-shocked with violence. The negativity does cause people to be suspicious. Maybe it would be a better place if more people showed grace instead of just retaliating hurt for hurt.
I once had a student who constantly caused classroom problems and refused to change his ways. One day when his teacher asked me to come to her room and intervene, I decided to do the following. I asked what he had done and received an explanation. I turned to him and told him that God had shown mercy and grace to me…even though I made mistakes. He sent Jesus to accept the punishment for me. So, because He did that for me, I would take the three spats of the paddle for him. I directed the teacher to spank my hand hard with the paddle instead of spanking him. (Yes, spankings were allowed back then.) Nothing more was ever said…I was not called to that room for his misbehavior again. I had completely forgotten about this incident until about four months ago when a woman came up to me and told me she was in that classroom long ago. She said, “I have never forgotten what you did for that boy!”
So, I stop and consider and question, “What would the world be like if we took the time to show “grace” instead of being judge, jury, and hangman…trying to right all the wrongs in the world?
- Kay