November 28, 2020

Sharing from the Congregation: David Petty

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name O Most High — Psalm 92:1

Those who know me know that I have a fascination with languages. I find it interesting that in Latin the word for “high” and “deep” is the same, altus. That seems odd to the English-speaking mind: aren’t they almost exact opposites? But to the Latin mind it’s all vertical distance — just in different directions. In most Latin sentences the meaning would be clear from the context. If necessary a word could be added to indicate up or down, like we might add “left” or “right” to indicate lateral direction.

In Greek the word charis, which means “grace,” also can mean “thanks.” Spanish does the same thing: gracias means “thanks” and “graces.” Similarly, in English we speak of “saying grace” and have the words gratitude and grateful.

The implication seems clear: like height and depth, thanksgiving and giving grace are really the same thing. It’s just that one goes up and the other goes down.

Do you really believe that? Is grace something that you and I can give to Almighty God? Well obviously we can’t do it on the same scale as God, but, yes, I think we are called on to, in our small way, extend grace (unconditional love) to the Lord. We also are called to extend it laterally, that is, to other people, near and far, known and unknown.

Gracefully submitted,
David Petty