Recognizing Grace
Richard Rohr
Radical Grace
St. Anthony Messenger Press

When Job's life is about to be taken away from him, he can say one of two things.  He can curse God, as he does for a moment, and say, God, why not fifty-one years?  Or he can surrender to love and grace and say, God, why fifty years?  Why did I deserve anything?  When we take on that attitude, we've made a decision for grace.

"Naked I came into the world, and naked I will leave"  (Job  1:21).  What do I have, brothers and sisters, that has not been given to me? All is grace. All is given.  Who gave me this hand?  Who wiggles these fingers?  Who created this eye that I cannot explain or understand? I cannot even make this hair grow.  It is all gift.  From beginning to end, everything is grace, everything is given. There is nothing that we deserve.

We have no real rights.  There is nothing we have.  When you lose your friend, your lover, your life-giver, you can curse God and say, Why was he taken?  Why was she taken?  Or you can say, Why was she given at all?  You can say, Why is that love gone?  Or you can say, Why did I even deserve a moment of love?  Why did I even deserve a second of this life?  God is creator and I am creature. God created me out of nothing and some years back I did not exist at all.  "Yahweh gives and Yahweh takes away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh (Job 1:21)

Reflection
This one more way of discerning that we are into risen life.
What do we intend when we say "Why"?  crsr