Grace Must Wound Before it Heals

"It was Flannery O'Connor who said that 'grace must wound before it heals.' Her words help to separate what is most true about life from the things we want to be true. We want life to be painless. True grace is a hard sell becuase in order for the human heart to understand forgiveness and love, it must first first experience darkness and isolation. A life lived under the rule of grace is a life of need which allows us to receive and appreciate the gift of the Giver of Grace. This is why we will always have the poor with us; this is why God will not allow us to ignore injustice; this is why we are called to a life we cannot handle alone, which can and will break us in the effort to live it-becuase grace must wound before it heals." -Justin McRoberts

it is sometimes overwhelmingly clear to me that I can't do this whole "life" thing on my own. some days i try and forget that or run away from that life, only to be stopped in my tracks broken, and then put back together by God's grace and mercy.