justice

"When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

legalism and grace

Legalism is easier than grace. Or at least it has a heavier gravitational pull. Most religions and ideologies seem to bend that way.

Law is legislatable and grace is not. That’s why attempting to politically impose Christian morals on a society is a dalliance with the devil: it necessitates a shift away from the heart of the Gospel.

We prefer to create systems of thought and behavior to which we can adhere, or against which we can rebel. These are the polar extremes portrayed in the parable of the Prodigal Son: the older brother versus the prodigal. Whether in compliance or defiance, law sells itself as simpler to manage than grace.

The way of grace traverses a different grid altogether than the compliance-defiance continuum.