|
I stand and listen to it explained. The room full of souls is stone cold silent. I hear my breath. The stillness and quiet are profound. Birds have two wing strokes. Power and Recovery. And wood carver and sculptor Grainger McKoy observed that the birds weaker wing position, recovery, has the most grace and beauty. Grace and Beauty in recovery. I stay there. I rest in the nature of this. The God designed mechanics of this.
And I soak in this beautiful picture as it relates to Friendship Place. An amazing grace-filled hope-filled charity. I watch as the artist’s son waves his own wing span back and forth demonstrating recovery and power strokes. Bird and human anatomy collide for a moment in their sameness.
Friendship Place daily provides grace and mercy to the vulnerable and the broken. I am here to learn more of their ministry. Of the simple truth of extending grace in moments of vulnerability. The pronouncements of the mission are made with clarity and poise. The director, a Westpoint grad, answering the call on his life. Following the call into a ministry in the shadows of the steel mill. A First Gulf War veteran, God equips those he calls.
They are Jesus’ hands and feet, those called to this place.
McKoy’s "Recovery Stroke" sculpture , like all of his created beauty is breath taking. Punched in the gut after viewing beautiful.
 
A friend for years, Grainger says this on his website:
I’ve always been attracted to a wing when it is in the recovery position. This is when its the least productive and most vulnerable, yet here can be found a grace and beauty that exist nowhere else."
My grace is sufficent for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." — 2 Corinthians 12:9
 
and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 – The Message
  
In the shadows of the steel mill and in the shadows of my heart, His Grace soothes and strengthens.
And Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 12: 10 –" I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."– The Message
Grainger carving a picture of Grace. Charlie, director of Friendship Place,walking out and extending Grace.
And the stories of individual needs being met rip the heart. The mom who breaks open the pack of diapers and steals two or three. Not the whole pack. A picture of her desperation and true charachter colliding.
And Charlie works it out to help her and cushion her fall. Preserve her dignity.
I soak in the stories; there are many. And I spot the silver "Recovery Stroke" pins around the room on a board member or two. I hear of the EGR people who have to take their meals to go when they disrupt.
Explanation is required. That is "Extra Grace Required" people. There is a collective laugh.
But that is me. I am that person in the shadows of the steel mill requiring extra measures of grace daily.
He he extends it. And I humbly receive. 
A man who knows Grace and Beauty knows the Joy of sharing the good news of Christ. And he did that almost a quarter of a century ago. Instrumental in bringing The Patient One to the Lord, he is cherished by this wife and mother.
Patiently, stroke by stroke.
And Charlie will get up today and tommorrow. Cross to the otherside of !7 going South. Extending Grace and Mercy to those recovering from a stumble or a fall or a setback in their life journey.
Patiently, under the Grace covering of the Creator, pouring it out.
Drop by drop.
Poured out Grace.
" But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. they spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. " Isaiah 40:31
wynnegraceappears | February 29, 2012 at 3:45 pm | Tags: Charity, God Beauty, Grace | Categories: Grace | URL: http://wp.me/p2bYsv-pY
|
WordPress.com
elizabeth w. marshall 