the Way of grace

800px-sign_at_land27s_end

we sit down
with our sharpened pencils,
to chart out the
longitude and latitude
of your grace
only
to keep running
out of paper;

we tie a string
around each sin,
dropping them into
your sea of forgiveness,
only
to discover we can
never plumb its depths;

we scrabble and scrape,
push and pummel ourselves
from Land’s End to John o’ Groats*
on our self-planned journey,
only
to find
we are at the
starting point
of your Way;

how foolish we are
to try to limit you
by our imagination
only.

Thom M. Shuman, pastor/poet in Ohio

 __________________

We have been ransomed through his Son’s blood,
and we have forgiveness for our failures
based on his overflowing grace,
which he poured over us with wisdom and understanding.

 

2 thoughts on “the Way of grace

  1. I love the very graphic and unusual way he expressed things in this prayer. I wondered if the one line should read, “we attach a rock to each sin…” and thereby capture the picture of a rock plunging downward into the sea never to reach the bottom of God’s grace.

    Like

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