It may be that we have lost our ability to hold a blazing coal, to move unfettered through time, to walk on water, because we have been taught such things have to be learned; we should deserve them; we must be qualified. We are suspicious of grace. We are afraid of the very lavishness of the gift.~Madeleine L'Engle (From Walking on Water--Reflections in Faith and Art)

This week I heard a story about a surgeon who transplanted a heart to a woman. The new heart did not immediately begin to beat. The physician then proceeded to do something unorthodox in the operating suite. He kneeled down and whispered to the woman, "I've removed your unhealthy heart and replaced it with a brand new one. It's all in place. Now you tell your heart to beat again." Almost at once, the woman's heart began to pulse with life.

Like physical hearts, sometimes our spiritual hearts can become hardened or wounded or broken. I believe that Jesus bends down and whispers in our ears, "Tell your heart to beat again. I've provided the mercy for that to happen. Don't be suspicious of the lavishness of my grace. Willingly receive my goodness, my Kingdom pulse."

Sometimes it's difficult to lean into the life force of Jesus. The abundance can seem out of our reach. To receive His grace is an act of surrender on our part akin to dawn breaking into the early morning darkness. Remarkable colors emerge and saturate the sky like an old-fashinoned Polaroid snapshot coming into focus . The sunrise is nothing we control, but rather something we can only choose to absorb. Awe-inspiring, life-giving. As simple and dramatic as a beating heart.