Grace and Change

I've been thinking and reading a lot lately about the idea of grace. Nothing is more pertinent to a religious person.

Here are three perspectives that I've enjoyed, and they've taught me a few things. Together they develop a story of grace that leads to the ultimate truth.

Martin Luther:

In his "Letter of Spiritual Counsel" he says:



"When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, say this: 'I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? No. For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there shall I be also.'" 



Luther tells us that Christ's grace saves us from our sins. Yes, we've earned death and hell. But Christ's mercy overpowers our flaws.

Brad Wilcox:

"They ask me, 'Have you been saved by grace?' I answer, 'Yes. Absolutely, totally, completely, thankfully—yes!' Then I ask them a question that perhaps they have not fully considered: “Have you been changed by grace?'"

Wilcox teaches us another aspect of grace. It's not just a power responding to passive belief. It's a force to change our behaviors too.

Mohandas Gandhi:

"I do not seek redemption from the consequences of my sin. I seek to be redeemed from sin itself...until I have attained that end, I shall be content to be restless."

The Story Unfolded:

Grace is absolute in its power to conquer sin, but it isn't limited to conquering sins effects. Grace can actually change us. In fact through grace, we become unhappy to live in sin. When we've been saved by grace, we cannot rest until we have become free of sin.

Beautiful Music and the Origins of Feelings

For my first post I've linked Ennio Morricone's masterpiece "Gabriel's Oboe".

If you haven't heard it before, or for a while, I want you to try something. Take a pad and pencil, and while you listen to this, write down the emotions you experience.



Now the question, does the music reach to something innate in us, or have we learned to associate particular emotions with this music? Is it the tune and rhythm lullaby or the association in the infants mind with sleep that works the magic? Do we write beautiful music because we natively recognize beauty, or do we write this kind of music because we've learned that it's beautiful?