Sunday Thought - More Than the Sum

 More Than the Sum

Am I more than the sum of what I’ve said or done?

Each week, I read a line from our communion liturgy that always stops me in my tracks:

“…You (God) forgive time and again;

But we hold fast to the sins of others (and ourselves)”

There’s something painfully honest about that. We cling to our failures. We memorize the mistakes of others. We carry the weight of every careless word, every regretful decision, every unmet expectation.

But what if God doesn’t keep that kind of score?

Richard Rohr once wrote:

“Perfection is not the elimination of imperfection, as we think. Divine perfection is, in fact, the ability to recognize, forgive, and include imperfection—just as God does with all of us.”

That truth is both unsettling and liberating. It tells me I’m not called to pretend perfection, but to live in the wide-open space of grace.

The Apostle Paul pleaded repeatedly with God to take away his “thorn”—that weakness or struggle he couldn’t shake. And God said no. Not because God didn’t care, but because grace was enough. Mercy was sufficient. Paul’s story—his highs and lows, triumphs and thorns—was wrapped in a love that wouldn’t let go.

That love still holds. It’s not dependent on our track record. It’s not earned or revoked.

It’s just… bigger.

So I return to the question:

Am I more than the sum of what I’ve said or done?

Yes.

Because love has the last word.

And grace rewrites the story…#pkes