Seedlings in Stone

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Did I Really Pray That?

"Hail Mary, full of grace..."

It was one of my first responses. And it surprised me.

I'd just experienced some ungracious treatment. Surprising. Baffling. Seemingly designed to hurt. And this was what came to mind.

The words are part of a Catholic prayer. But as far as I could tell I wasn't praying. Not to Mary, so it seemed. This felt more like the kind of supplication I'd written about in God in the Yard. An inchoate longing. Oh, to be full of grace, like Mary long ago.

The ache was so keen it brought to memory a beloved book... Scot McKnight's The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus.

In this book, McKnight asks, "What kind of woman would sing a song [a poem!] like this?"

His answer is a steady look into the face of Mary. McKnight gently reminds us that while this woman had her foibles, she was full of grace. And I can tell you, that's just what I needed to hear. I sought to respond to this message in gratitude.

Most of you know I'm not a big promoter of books. I only share what I like. I only speak to you what speaks to me. Today, I want to go one step further and give what gave...

Simply comment below by 6:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, October 8, and if your number is picked by the Random Generator (no worries, it doesn't hurt), I'll send you a copy of The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus. And know that if you are here reading this today, you have my prayers to be full of grace.

"Grace Revisited" art, Mineral Pigments and Gold on Kumohada Paper, (c) copyright Makoto Fujimura, 2002. Used with permission from Makoto Fujimura. Also available as Grace Note Cards at the International Arts Movement Store.

"Graced" photo taken at Laity Lodge, by L.L. Barkat. (Scot has spoken at Laity Lodge, but he showed up exactly one day after I left. Ah well. For an interview I did with him, that reveals his approach to writing, read Writing the Natural Way.)

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AND YOU?

Would you like to share your own thoughts on Mary and grace, parenthood or friendship and grace, or just... grace? Post a poem or story and drop your link info here. I'll give links to All at the bottom of this post. For now, I await your grace...