Grace Grace Grace.
What does that even mean?
A few nights ago we were out to dinner for my birthday. We ended up enjoying a game of pool with a few Australian men and came upon an interesting conversation. He missed the shot and vulgarity began to fill his mouth and as i chuckled at his reaction my friend says, “Don’t worry, we have plenty of grace here.” He looks at her and says, “What does that even mean? You and your Americans always talking about grace.” Thats not exactly the reaction i expected to hear, but began to think about what he said. What exactly does grace mean?
In the dictionary, grace means:
1. Elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.
2. A pleasing or attractive quality or endowment
3. To favor or honor or good will
4. Mercy
5. An allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor.
Theologically:
1. The freely given, unmerited favor, and love of G-d
i once heard a man put it this way. Grace is the empowerment to be called a son or daughter of G-d despite everything (i.e – sin) that has separated you from Him. It’s the very real G-d wanting a very real relationship with you.
All this to say i realized, i don’t have as much ‘grace’ for people as i thought i did.
When i walk the streets here in Chiang Mai, i see several western ‘white’ men with their Thai girlfriends, if i would even be so graceful to refer to it as that. I find my heart filling with bitterness, anger, and rage (at some points) with the sign of a white man and his miserably looked Thai woman straining behind him.
Now sometimes, maybe 1% of the women i see, may look like they enjoy being with him, however most, 99% appear to look miserable and forced. Now, regardless of where i’m at, whether i’m out shopping or near Loi Kroh Road (a red light district here in Chiang Mai) i can’t help but find myself questioning every white guy’s intention of being here in Thailand and even thinking not so nice things like…
Ya nasty pervert.
How dare you think you can buy a woman.
Who do you think you are.
etc…
and wondering if he realizes what he’s doing and how his action is fueling the sex trafficking industry.
All of that because i see a white westerner.
There is absolutely no grace in that and i know my thoughts are not okay. The truth is not every single ‘white western man’ i see is like this and even if 9 out of 10 are, the 1 that is not, deserves enough respect and grace to NOT have me think the worst of him.
i want to look at someone and not think the worst of them, i believe thats called grace, something i need to work on.
i have realized more and more, how good is G-d? And how full of grace is He?
He doesn’t hold my sin against me. He doesn’t look at me with tinted eyes seeing all the muck and crap i’ve done, but see’s His daughter in whom He loves, the one He calls lovely, pure, and spotless.
So in saying that, who the heck am i to look at someone and not see a son or a daughter of G-d who is in need of a Savior and above anything needs the grace of G-d.
There is a lot of awful people in this world and even people that literally invent ways of doing evil, but the old saying comes back to me, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.”
Just food for thought and whats going through my brain.
