Great Way to Ring in the New Year!

I realize that I have been negligent in posting on my blog in the last few months of 2012.  So, I begin this new year with a desire to do better.

Sharon and I had no real plans for what we would do last night to see the new year in.  So, we went out to dinner at one of our favorite places to eat in Salisbury - Cactus Taverna!  After a delicious meal, we went across the highway to the Regal Cinemas to see Les Miserables.

Now, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I am not a big fan of plays and had no idea what the story line on this play made movie was but was hearing good reviews.  It was an incredible movie.  Very intense.  Very meaningful.  Very moving.   A great way to ring in the new year!

The thing that stands out to me the most from the movie (and likely also the play) was the power of grace!   It was vividly illustrated from begining to end of the movie.  And it is an important reminder that one experience of grace in our lives can drastically change the trajectory of our lives if we allow it to. 

Jean Val Jean was an escaped parolee and was hungry and desparate when he stumbled into the church.  After a hearty meal and some fine hospitality, in the middle of the night he decided to steal much of the silver that was in the church.  But sometime the next day, he was caught and returned to the church to be punished.  It was then that he first encountered grace and that encounter impacted his life and the lives of many after that!   As the officer was turning him over for punishment, the priest, told the officer that he had given the silver to Jean val Jean.  And then got the silver candle sticks and gave them to him saying, "you forgot to take these!"    Then put them in his pack and set him free.   That act of grace - unmerited favor - forever changed him.  All through out the movie - again and again, Jean val Jean had opportunity to extend grace to others, even his pursuer... and it impacted their lives as well.

As I reflect on that power... I can't help but feel that if we who follow Christ - God's gift of grace to the world, would allow that grace to change our lives in the same way Jean val Jean did... the world would be a drastically different place in which to live... it might even be what Jesus prayed for in his prayer taught to his followers... "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."