“Story of my life.” When people experience a new disappointment which is also strangely familiar, that is the phrase they use. Many of us have an old story about ourselves that plays on a loop. For some, it is a constant buzz in the background. For others, that story can lie dormant and forgotten. Then there it goes again–that old accusation, that stray thought come home to roost, that foul word spoken over their life. Do you have a word which keeps rearing its ugly head? Let’s say you were to write it on a cardboard sign, the kind you see someone holding at a traffic light. Now, if you could pick a different word for the flip side that might turn things back around, what would you choose? Is there a word more powerful than the old accusation on the front? Not just some good thought or high-minded concept–I’m talking about something that connects on a personal level?
A story that involves one of my favorite authors might help with this distinction. He walked in on a group of scholarly types debating what makes Christianity different from any other faith or philosophy. “What do you think, Jack?” they asked him. He responded with one word: “Grace.” Grace is quite a word. It might be a good choice for the flip-side of your cardboard sign. However, I have noticed that after people experience grace, they sometimes describe it with a word that is even more personal. The video below explains further. It is by a friend of a friend named Jason Gray. If you would like to hear more about his cardboard sign, then you can click the “more” button below for a one minute interview with Jason. It is, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The rest of the story.”
Next, for a brief interview with Jason… (click “more” below).
Now what about you? What is your “sign?”
“Uncertainty” would be the word on my piece of cardboard. When flipped, I would hope to see “Peace.”
“DOUBT” on the front.
“GRACE: Learn to accept it in the full measure it is being shared” on the back.