“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I’m found – Was blind, but now I see so clearly And hallelujah, Grace Like Rain falls down on me And hallelujah, And all my stains are washed away – They’re washed away…” (Grace Like Rain, Todd Agnew)

A week and a half ago at my ordination, there was a portion of the service where prayers of intercession were said, and a laying on of hands (as a form of blessing) by some of my colleagues took place. For once in the last several days the weather had been clear, until those moments in the service when it down poured rain. What was likely mere coincidence has come to have a different meaning to me in the last several days, and I want to share that with you here.

You see, I have come to love the hymn “Amazing Grace”, especially in the last two years when it has held a special meaning for me. Because it so important to me, I naturally had it in the prelude of the service that day. But there is a contemporary Christian version of this song called “Grace Like Rain” (lyrics above) that came to my mind this morning as I was thinking about this devotion. Now, for me, that “random” downpour has come to symbolize God’s grace—the unconditional love of God found in Christ—pouring down on that day and on the ministry we continue to do together.

So this got me thinking: Where are the places you see God’s grace pouring down into your life this week? This year? In the life of Trinity Lutheran Church? And how might we as a congregation continue to share and show God’s grace and peace to those whom we encounter that might just need a little “down pouring” of God’s love on their lives?