The author Frederick Buechner, in his book Wishful Thinking, puts it this way: "The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too."
When I think of the grace of God, I think of steadfast love, compassion, mercy—a kind of unconditional acceptance that is unlike human love. To me, Psalm 103 describes the way in which God reaches out to us with this forgiving, all-encompassing love. The other powerful illustration of "grace" is the way Jesus treated persons-- accepting those who were considered outcasts by eating with them, healing them, listening and talking with them.
Grace is the unconditional love of God for us, exactly as we are, apart from our own efforts. This is the accepted definition of "grace," with the ending phrase reassuring us that we have no worries about our present state of sinfulness.
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