And so, today is Easter Monday. In normal circumstances, it may be a day off following a holiday. A time to recoup: vacuum the crumb- laden carpet, discover well-hidden Easter eggs, clean up the chocolate wrappers, put away the holiday china, get ready for the remainder of the spring.

On the spiritual side, it is a day to let the events of last week and weekend settle into our hearts. How are we to respond? To ponder what does it mean for us? The concepts of sin? Mercy? Forgiveness? Grace?

Grace. God giving us what we do not deserve. A gift. We cannot earn it, we not deserve it and we cannot buy it.

When I truly think about it, it elicits a response of immense overwhelming gratitude; by accepting the gift of God’s love for me, I can have eternal life- never being separate from God. Amazing.

I am drawn to the paintings of the Renaissance painter Caravaggio. His subject matter can be a little off putting but the way he captures light onto the canvas is nothing short of miraculous. If you think talent is given in proportion to a person’s moral character, then he certainly didn’t deserve the accolades. He was the bad@!! renaissance painter. He never showed any morals (constantly arguing, fighting, seeming to have a demon in his soul) yet he was given the incredible gift of painting.

I think of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Another genius with questionable morals. The whole question about a selfish, arrogant, brat being gifted with enormous talent and genius is at the heart of the story, Amadeus. Certainly Mozart’s rival, the religious Anthony Salieri wonders about it.

Undeserved gifts.

I love the story behind the hymn Amazing Grace. Written by John Newton, a former slave trader turned abolitionist, it expresses how none of us deserves this grace. We all are wretches in some form or another. As exemplified by Newton’s life, none of our actions or thoughts are pure one way or the other: good versus evil. We are complicated beings. Inconsistent, sometimes getting it, sometimes not, at times good, at times bad. Which again is the point of grace- we all fall short when it comes to being absolutely good/perfect people. Cannot be done.

And so, we need to accept the gift of God’s grace to move along in the world.

What about you? What do you think of grace? For yourself? For others?

Part of my reaction to the grace I have received is to extend grace to others: do I give people the gift of understanding, compassion, love when they may not “deserve” it? How can I be a grace-filled, grace- extender in my corner of the world today? How about you?

Click here for Andrea Bocelli: Music for Hope. At minute 19 he sings the old hymn: Amazing Grace.

Click here for more about John Newton.

Click here to read more about Caravaggio.