Ordinary Time 
Pause
“A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God.” (Thomas Merton, Trappist monk)
When we catch glimpses of God’s goodness in our lives, we call that grace.
Open your heart, mind, and soul to the ways that you need God’s grace to sustain you on your journey.
Listen
During that day’s cool evening breeze, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God in the middle of the garden’s trees. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:8-9
Think
When my daughter was very young and would do something wrong, she would bury her face in her hands. She was convinced that, in that moment, I could not see her. She was desperately hoping to escape from her embarrassment, her shame, and the consequences of what she had done. I would take her face in my hands and raise it up to look her in the eyes. I would remind her that, even though she had done something wrong, I still loved her.
We are creatures who are easily filled with guilt. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, rather than facing our guilt and the consequences of our behavior, we think we can hide from the presence of God. Perhaps the starting place to receive grace is to acknowledge that there is no hiding from God. Not really.
Tyler Tankersley
Pray
God, help me to not wallow in my shame or guilt, but to look for you in my moments of brokenness. Amen.
Go
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
from “Grace Greater Than Our Sin” by Julia H. Johnston (1910)
