I made two of my classes listen to one of my favorite songs today, U2's "Grace." We do "listening activities" with songs a lot, but the best part is the inevitable "what does it mean" question that follows the listening. We got to talk about how an oyster turning a painful grain of sand into a pearl is a wonderful example of grace. We discussed karma and reincarnation. And there was a moment when one of my students said, "Grace is hard because it makes me feel guilty." In a phrase he summarized one of the great struggles of my life. It reminded me why I'm really glad to be a teacher. Here's the song:
Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name
Grace
It's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that
Changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness
In everything
Grace
She's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk
She travels outside
Of karma, karma
She travels outside
Of karma
When she goes to work
You can hear the strings
Grace finds beauty
In everything
Grace
She carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips
Between her fingertips
She carries a pearl
In perfect condition
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things
Grace finds beauty
In everything
Grace find goodness
In everything
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"Humility, that low, sweet root, From which all heavenly virtues shoot" - Thomas More
2 comments:
"Grace is hard because it makes me feel guilty." Definitely an apt summary.
How hard it is to accept that we are not only allowed to take part in the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19), but that we are invited, just as we are, by the Lamb himself to this huge, yet intimate, celebration. I so want to do things in the "right" way under my own steam; I know what I want my life to look like - without depression, without missing work, without standing up good friends, without getting lost in a book and not doing the gardening I love - the list is endless. It's very painful when I have some unusually difficult and disappointing days (i.e. last week) that serve to underscore just how unworthy I am to eat at that table. I desparately need, and yet don't want because it emphasizes my guilt and weakness, that grace to come to any level of peace about both my continued failures and the amazing truth that JESUS STILL WANTS ME AT THE FEAST!!!
hey, so i haven't been here in forever which means that i need to comment on a few entries...enjoyed the journals and pics from easter break...glad to see i made the pictures...glad to hear you like owen meany...not to start an all out debate here, but just to add my 2 cents, i actually liked the foreshadowing...now, i was no english major or anything, so please forgive my poor tastes :) i liked it because i still didn't know what was going to happen exactly, but knew i would find out more later...maybe it was slightly annoying though, but for the most part it made me want to keep reading...have to totally agree about the snails, but of course didn't know anything about them...i have just seen so many here in hungary that it is crazy...they look so cool...and glad you got to share the song with a class and chat it up...i think that's about it...later
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