162 -- Out of the way, out of the Way.
Friday in Godsfield -- Out of the way Grace Space day.
After a Thursday of Pray the Way, in which we pray for every church we pass, and expand it to pray as we go on our way, the implication is that we are praying because Jesus is the Way.
The Way is that earliest name of the followers of Jesus, and so Praying the Way can mean more than praying wherever you happen to go, whatever your way is; it can mean praying in the Way of Jesus, as a follower of the Way.
And it seems to be less about praying just the right "way," as it is about praying in the way the Spirit leads at the moment. Being in the Spirit to lead the Way.
And then on Fridays, I say, "Go out of your way to create a Grace Space," whatever that means.
That is not to say I have no idea what that means, but rather, it will be something different depending on where or when or how or why the grace is offered.
A Grace Space is wherever grace -- forgiveness, love, redemption, hope -- is offered. To me and you, or by me and you.
Ah, but it can also mean, go out of the WAY to create a Grace Space, to step out of the the obvious or traditional Way of Jesus -- to go on a way, in a way, as a way, where one would expect to see Jesus -- in order to see Jesus where you would not expect.
If Jesus' love knows no bounds, then it can be offered in the least likely places, in surprising places, in dangerous places, in defiant places, in forgotten places, in ignorant places, in empty places, in evil places.
That is going out of your way, even out of your Way, to love -- with no guarantee that love will be returned; there is a high likelihood it will not be returned, that it will be rejected in any number of ways, as Jesus' journey shows only too clearly.
But where it is received, it will be the strongest monument, the greatest testimony to what Jesus offers and who He is.
He is love.
Go out of your way -- your Way -- to offer the Way, in an unlikely way.
Blessings on your journey.
Love ya,
Paul