It is by grace that you are saved, through faith, not by anything of your own, but by a pure gift from God, and not by anything you have achieved. Nobody can claim the credit. You are God’s work of art. Ephesians 2:8-10

Grace is the Divine Unmerited Generosity that is everywhere available, totally given, usually undetected as such, and often even undesired. It has been rightly defined as “that which confers on our souls a new life, that is, a sharing in the life of God Himself” (from The New Baltimore Catechism of yesteryear).

Grace cannot be understood by any ledger of merits and demerits. It cannot be held to any patterns of buying, losing, earning, achieving, or manipulating, which is where, unfortunately, most of us live our lives. Grace is, quite literally, “for the taking.” It is God eternally giving away God—for nothing—except the giving itself. Quite simply, to experience grace you must stop all counting!

The ego does not know how to receive things freely or without logic. It prefers a worldview of scarcity, or at least quid pro quo, where only the clever win. It likes to be worthy and needs to understand in order to be able to accept things. That problem, and its overcoming, is at the very center of the gospel plot line. It has always been overcome from God’s side. The only problem is getting us in on the process! That full inclusion of us is the greatest testimony to God’s humility, mercy, and love.

Richard Rohr, OFM