Living by Grace--by Linden Malki

It could be said that our world is made up of two kinds of sinners: those who know they are, and those who don't believe they are.  If we recognize our need for grace, we can take the first step in knowing God: acknowledging our sinfulness and dependence on Him. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) was how St Paul put it.  The amazing thing is that knowing that I am a sinner saved by grace sounds very simplistic but it adds a additional dimension to life. 

Maybe San Bernardino is an example in a way. When I first came here is was a prosperous and
positive place;  in the late 1970's it was named an All-American city. Up where North E street goes over LIttle Mountain, there was a mural painted on a retaining wall celebrating this honor.     Over the years, it has faded, like the attitudes of the people who live here now.  We are constantly faced with signs of poverty and crime, and it's very easy to get depressed and discouraged.  Yes, there are many good people still here; but what do we mean by "good people"?  There are people who consider themselves "good" because they don't do obviously bad things and are helpful to people, but they don't see that they need anything more. There are people whose judgment of their behavior consists of not getting "caught" or on the wrong side of the wrong people.  There are people who will do whatever makes them feel good,  without caring about the traditional standards that they see as outmoded. There a pervasive feeling that God really doesn't matter,  probably doesn't exist.  We read about people who are accused of various kinds of social, political or financial corruption, some with a very long history of behavior that had damaged other people but they don't see the problem with it. 

Human society has always fallen short of God's plan, but somehow He is a Creator who allows us an incredible amount of freedom, but also an incredible amount of responsibility for each other.  Yes, He allows things that we don't understand, but He also gives us the ability, in His strength--not our own--to do amazing things for good as well. We see times when we get a glimpse of what could be--a society where people truly care about good and evil, truly care about each other, and have a level of trust that we don't see much of here and now.  One of my daughters has a longtime friend who now lives in a community that she describes as somewhere she doesn't worry about her kids getting into trouble because there's no trouble for them to get into; the churches, schools and families all function as they ought. My daughter, telling me about it, said that she had a feeling that there was something missing but couldn't quite put her finger on it.  Thinking about it, I asked "But what are they doing outside their bubble?"  Our bubble here in Southern California has popped--what are we doing about it? We know that God is alive and well, but are we living on His level, in His strength, in constant awareness of Him?