Welcome to Virtual Grace, written by the Rev. Rachel Kessler.  Through this blog we will reflect on the ways we encounter God's grace every day in the world around us.

We often fall into the compartmentalization trap in our spiritual lives.  All that “God” stuff goes in the convenient little “church” box, and “life” stuff goes into all the other little appropriate metaphorical boxes.  The idea of merging the religious and the “worldly” need not result in something as off-putting as the Cheeto Jesus or the so-called “nun bun” sold at a coffee shop in my husband’s hometown.  Some people have even found Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich:

Let me digress, if I may:

I love the writing of Russian Orthodox priest and theologian Alexander Schmemann (may he rest in peace).  One of the major themes that runs through Fr. Schmemann’s work is the idea that the whole created world reflects the very nature of God.  Schmemann puts it fairly succinctly: “it is God and God alone that has made this world His symbol, has then fulfilled this symbol in Christ and will consummate it in His Eternal Kingdom.”  (You can check out Schmemann’s excellent book For the Life of the World here).

The point is: God’s presence manifests itself throughout the world in which we live, whether or not we are inside the four walls of the church building.  The whole world is a source of divine Grace.  We can learn to see and understand something of God’s very nature through thoughtful, reflective attention to our everyday life.

So, that’s what this blog will be all about.  As we focus more at Grace Church on enriching our shared Christian spiritual journey, the blog will provide one avenue for us a chance to discover God’s “grace” in perhaps some unexpected places.  After all, if no area of the world lies outside the sphere of God’s grace, why shouldn’t we be able to glean something of God’s divine presence in movies, books, or current political goings-on?  Read, reflect, and comment!