When We Wallow In Guilt,

Quia Amasti Me, Fecisti Me Amabilem. (in Loving Me, You Made Me Lovable.)

Nevertheless, The Central Affirmation Of The Reformation Stands: Through No Merit Of Ours, But By His Mercy, We Have Been Restored To A Right Relationship With God Through The Life, Death, And Resurrection Of His Beloved Son. This Is The Good News, The Gospel Of Grace

To Be Alive Is To Be Broken; To Be Broken Is To Stand In Need Of Grace.

Our Huffing And Puffing To Impress God, Our Scrambling For Brownie Points, Our Thrashing About Trying To Fix Ourselves While Hiding Our Pettiness And Wallowing In Guilt Are Nauseating To God And Are A Flat Denial Of The Gospel Of Grace.

For Ragamuffins, God's Name Is Mercy. We See Our Darkness As A Prized Possession Because It Drives Us Into The Heart Of God. Without Mercy Our Darkness Would Plunge Us Into Despair - For Some, Self-destruction. Time Alone With God Reveals The Unfathomable Depths Of The Poverty Of The Spirit. We Are So Poor That Even Our Poverty Is Not Our Own: It Belongs To The Mysterium Tremendum Of A Loving God.