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Act I From inside a tawdry living room, a camera captures a truly unfit mother watching her daughter leave home. She is carrying only the luggage of a broken heart and crushed spirit. As the film depicts one year after another, the mother’s tears and a bottle of booze fill scene after scene. At the depth of her alcoholic misery, the phone rings. The mother answers to hear a ‘missing’ daughter calmly asserting, "Mommy, I’m coming home. I love you." The reunion is not stuff that happy endings are made of. The mother never regains her health and doesn’t magically start loving her child. But through her deteriorating condition, mom is nursed with an endless supply of compassion and concern. When confronted by one last round of selfishness and anger, the daughter does not retaliate or withdraw for something has changed. The child that left shattered and alone has returned, carrying a different set of luggage – grace. Intermission Have you seen enough of the film to have a question you want to ask or a comment you need to make? While the audience is out of the theatre and the house lights are up, why don’t you shoot us a quick email before people start coming back for… Act II The screen comes to life. A weeping man, with unkempt beard and dirty cloths, looks into the audience for solace but finds none. His head sinks to his chest, all hope extinguished. You see the cardboard sign by the man’s side. He’s almost sitting on it and the words are unclear until the camera pans in. "Will work for food" comes into focus. Intuitively you know the story will be about a struggling family, held together by the will of a precious wife and mother as the habitually unreliable husband self-destructs. And you’re right. He has failed at 12 jobs in 3 years, all due to his negligence and irresponsibility, and is at the low point in his life. It is only a matter of time until the consequences of his actions take his family down with him. The camera returns to his eyes staring hopelessly, but now at a well-dressed man on the corner. The man, one of the 12 previous employers, has heard of the family’s plight. He approaches the huddled wretch and extends a hand. In his palm is an offer of clean cloths, food for the family, and another chance at his old job. The husband hesitates, not believing this turn of events. He slowly stands then sweeps his matted hair from his face and tentatively grasps the offered hand. Grace grips back.
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His grace creations! |
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Offering Directions for the Journey |
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Special Seasonal Article |
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First Exposure to Grace The name for this web site actually started as the name for a line of photographic note cards. Each photo was God’s (‘His’) because I thought he deserved the credit for my ability to capture images on film. The developed photos, the subjects and even the photographer were all considered ‘creations.’ Pretty simple so far. Then the word ‘grace’ was added and suddenly the title became a beautifully complex and spiritually rich phrase. Grace dramatically changes what it touches. When you read ‘grace’ in our name, a short prayer said at mealtime might have come to mind. Perhaps you pictured the graceful beauty of a ballerina or an evening of gracious Southern hospitality. And, probably everybody has been thankful for that grace period when the house payment comes due. There is grace in all of these, however God’s grace is off the charts by comparison.
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Grace Developed It is first of all a gift, bestowed with no ulterior motives, from a heart of love we can only begin to fathom.
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A second aspect of grace may be harder for us to accept. In a culture that screams at us to earn everything we possess, grace arrives unexpectedly when we least deserve it. In fact, it is only grace because we have done nothing to merit receiving it. The moment we can claim grace as our due, it becomes an obligation to be paid and not a free gift to bequeath. There’s more to grace but that’s enough for now. We’ll talk again after you’ve had a chance to ‘watch’ a film about these components of grace. |
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