Living Our Values: Grace
Written by Graham Bell, Trustee of Prison Fellowship Scotland and Chaplaincy Advisor for the Reformed Tradition of Chaplains.
There is a song that we sing in our church called Grace Is… “Grace is when God gives us the things we don’t deserve.” When I think about grace that is the first definition that always comes to mind.
Grace, in whatever form, is always a gift. It is something that we can choose to offer – or something that we can withhold. It is our choice.
As a gift to someone else, it usually comes at a cost to ourselves. When we show grace, there is something that we need to be willing to accept the burden, the pain of, upon ourselves; to accept, to carry, to suffer the consequences - rather than off-load it or fire it back to the one who has offended. It is a cross we choose to bear.
When we give the gift of forgiveness, for example, deciding to release an individual and not continue to count their offence against them, nor punish them by our response, we are thereby agreeing to bear within us the weight and pain of whatever it was they did. We decide to live with the consequences.
The work of Prison Fellowship centres around imprisoned people. They of all people need to be shown grace. They have been found guilty by a court of law and sentenced to their punishment. They may have experienced the devastation of rejection by family and friends and very often public shame. Prison Fellowship does not add to this. We do not judge, reject or condemn. We are there to demonstrate by our words and lives the grace of God.
To some extent that is not difficult – after all, we are not the direct victims. We ourselves did not suffer by their actions.
What may be more challenging is showing grace to others. The prison which is running late and has kept us waiting (again!). The smirky officer who seems to look down their nose at what we are doing. The officious one who treats us rudely. To these individuals too we need to show grace. Keeping quiet, counting to ten, turning the other cheek. Rather than fire back we decide to bear the weight of their offence and continue to show respect and love. Grace.
To one another, fellow volunteers who have done something to irritate us, office staff who have forgotten to do what they promised. Grace. Seeking to understand the pressures others are under, recognising that we don’t have the full picture, endeavouring not to take it personally. Grace.
Grace – the gift that we so often desire from others, but can often be slow to give. In all our encounters with others, let us be an organisation that exemplifies – Grace.