Daily Meditation: Saturday, December 16, 2023

Grace - it is given to those who have some capital

12/16/2023

Some theologians present grace as an arbitrary and inexplicable manifestation of the Deity; nobody knows why grace is given to some people and not to others. It has nothing to do with their conduct or actions, and it is useless to try and understand; that is just the way it is. Presented this way, grace is incompatible with justice and we may wonder if there really is such a thing as divine justice. There is not much to be said for human justice, so if God too is unjust... No, this is a very bad interpretation of something that is really quite easy to understand. Let me illustrate it. Suppose you are in the process of building a house: the walls are up, but you suddenly realize that you do not have enough money to finish it, so you go to the bank and apply for a loan. If you have sufficient capital, the bank will agree to lend you a certain amount. Does it lend money to everyone? No, but if you already have some capital – some land or assets – it will lend you what you need. In the same way, grace is not given to everybody, only to those who have already prepared themselves, who have already built something and have some capital. Grace says, ‘That person is a good worker; they pray and meditate; I will give them what they need to complete the temple they are building.’ So, grace is something more than justice, but it nevertheless obeys a form of justice.*