“Grace operates outside of the typical human ways of doing things. People want to believe they’re in control. In fact, people feel like they need to be in control in order not to feel out of control. As a result of this natural ego component, people assume they can do specific things to ensure they are rewarded. Since it seems to the ego as though most things in life are earned through hard work and effort, people expect that work is also required to “rise to the top” spiritually.
People expect the “gifts of God” to be given out according to some recognizable plan that entails rules, conditions, prerequisites, and effort. To some degree, we certainly do have a role to play: We need to show up, be available, participate, surrender, and let go of whatever we’ve been holding on to. But ultimately grace is freely given, not earned in any way.”
Jonathan Parker, in “The Soul Solution”
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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.
