Spirituality

I don’t think our spirituality is safe from our humanness. Yes, we are very human in every pursuit. There is always a voice in our heads that is evaluating, comparing, and judging others. It’s that voice that often convinces us that we can be “better” than other people and by “better,” I mean more “spiritual.”

Grace is the great leveling force, though. God does not offer grace based on who deserves it. That’s kind of the point of grace.

There is this song by Sufjan Stevens about John Wayne Gacy, Jr., Chicago’s infamous serial killer. Sufjan describes in intense detail Gacy’s horrific acts, and despite its subject matter, it is quite a pretty song. The best part, though, is the final lines: “In my best behavior, I am really just like him/look beneath the floorboards for the secrets I have hid.”

We get to thinking sometimes that there are things of which we’re not capable. Among them are usually rape, murder, and child abuse. It’s usually people that have done those things that we compare ourselves to and start feeling good about where we are. But realizing that we are just as guilty as killers if we are spiteful or prideful is the first step to true spirituality. It is the first step to realizing who we are and who God is. We are sinners and the more fully we understand our own brokenness, the more we will understand the depth of the grace God offers us.