Last week was the St Albans diocesan clergy conference. This happens once every three years and is a chance for stipendiary members of the clergy around the diocese to go away together for a few days. (There is a separate one for self-supporting clergy and readers many of whom are at work during the week). This conference was on the theme of grace.
Two speakers stood out to me, Rosemary Mallett who is the Bishop of Croydon and Tim Goode who is the Canon for congregational discipleship at York Minster. Rosemary is a woman of colour and Tim is disabled and walks with crutches. Rosemary spoke on the topic of racial justice and Tim spoke on a theology of disability. Both were excellent and engaging and the thing that struck me most about the way they spoke was that it was imbued with grace. Both of them, from how they have been treated and seen others treated, had every reason to be cross - sharing their anger with us. Instead both spoke with enormous graciousness.
It made me think about the attitudes and treatment that hurt or upset us. It made me think about the way others can detect a weakness in us and use that as an excuse to treat us as ‘less’. And quite often this makes us act with anger, with defensiveness, in ways that push others away. And yet Rosemary and Tim's graciousness was winning. I feel more involved, more passionate, more understanding of their causes because of the way they inhabited and demonstrated grace.
Paul testifies to this grace as he tells us that Jesus says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
I wonder then whether we can take on that grace, especially in areas of our lives where we feel we have been ‘got at’ or mistreated or dismissed, responding with graciousness to those who would treat us as less. As we do so may we know God giving us his grace and knowing his power that is made perfect in our weaknesses.