As we stand on the threshold of this new year, there’s a palpable sense of anticipation in the air. The clock is ticking, and with each passing moment, we find ourselves on the brink of a fresh chapter in the grand narrative of our lives. It’s a time for reflection, resolution, and perhaps most importantly, a time to embrace the profound wisdom of a man named Robert Farrar Capon.
Robert Farrar Capon, a theologian and author known for his keen insights into the grace of God, invites us to approach the coming year with a spirit of grace. In a world marked by striving and self-effort, his words serve as a refreshing reminder that we are recipients of grace that passes all understanding.
“Grace,” Capon once wrote, “is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world. It is a floating, cosmic bash shouting its way through the streets of the universe, singing the sweetness of its cassations to every window, pounding at every door in a hilarity beyond all liking and happening, until the prodigals come out at last and dance, and the elder brothers finally take their fingers out of their ears.”
As we step into this year, let’s shed the weight of performance and perfectionism and the burden of unrealistic resolutions. Robert Farrar Capon invites us to celebrate the life we’ve been given and to join the cosmic bash that is grace itself. Entering this party, we are encouraged to drop the heavy baggage of guilt and self-condemnation and step into the joy and lightness of being loved unconditionally in Jesus Christ.
In the midst of our imperfections, mistakes, and constant uncertainties, God’s grace calls us to dance. It’s an invitation to celebrate the freedom of forgiveness, to let go of self-imposed demands for flawlessness and to recognize once and for all that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
As this new year unfolds, let us with faith embrace the role of the prodigal in our own lives—and return daily to the source of grace, to the wellspring of love that never runs dry. It’s a journey that doesn’t demand perfectionism, but simply asks us to take a first step, to respond to the relentless pursuit of grace that chases us down with unyielding tenacity.
In the words of Robert Farrar Capon, “We are surrounded by an extravagance of love we simply have to accept.” Here’s to a new year of accepting and celebrating this extravagant love of Jesus, a year of grace, hope, and the freedom to dance.
Blessings,
Richard