Divine Locksmith

 Paul Dazet

Amazing Grace?

We say we believe in grace. 

We sing about it, 

Preach it, 

Write it on coffee mugs.

But the truth?

Grace terrifies us.

Because grace doesn’t play by our rules. 

It doesn’t reward effort or hustle. 

It doesn’t care about our polished résumés of virtue. 

As Richard Rohr puts it, 

“Grace humiliates our private attempts at virtue.”

Grace isn’t fair,

And that’s what makes it holy.

The System We’ve Inherited

From our earliest days, most of us are raised in what Rohr calls the “merit badge system.” 

Perform well, and you’ll be loved. 

Get the grades, 

Say the prayers, 

Keep your nose clean, 

And you’ll earn approval: 

From God, 

From others, 

From yourself.

It’s intoxicating. 

It’s clear. 

It works, until it doesn’t.

Because life eventually breaks all our equations. 

Tragedy interrupts our perfect record. 

Addiction sneaks in through the cracks. 

Grief crumbles our neat theology. 

Failure finally finds us.

And in that moment, grace doesn’t just become relevant - it becomes necessary.

Grace isn’t a prize  it’s a rescue  

Roger calls it 

The System We’ve Inherited

From our earliest days, most of us are raised in what Rohr calls the “merit badge system.” 

Perform well, and you’ll be loved. 

Get the grades, 

Say the prayers, 

Keep your nose clean, 

And you’ll earn approval: 

From God, 

From others, 

From yourself.

It’s intoxicating. 

It’s clear. 

It works, until it doesn’t.

Because life eventually breaks all our equations. 

Tragedy interrupts our perfect record. 

Addiction sneaks in through the cracks. 

Grief crumbles our neat theology. 

Failure finally finds us.

“And in that moment, grace doesn’t just become relevant - it becomes necessary.“

It’s not a consolation trophy for the almost-good-enough. 

It’s not a little extra help for the spiritually competent.

It’s for the stuck. 

The cracked open. 

The utterly undone.

Grace isn’t sweet - it’s shocking. 

It interrupts the “if-then” logic we use to run our lives.

We often live by “if…then logic”. 

If I pray…then I’ll have peace.

If I serve enough…then God will bless me.

If I believe enough…then I won’t hurt.

But grace says: 

Even if not, you are loved. 

Even when, I am with you. 

Especially then, I will not let you go.

Who Wants Grace?

Rohr answers honestly: “Only sinners, and almost no one else.”

That line hits hard. 

Because to receive grace, 

We have to let go of control. 

We have to admit we can’t earn our way out. 

We have to get honest about our brokenness, our poverty of spirit.

And most of us will try everything else before finally opening our hands.

But once we do…

Once we collapse into that divine embrace 

That doesn’t require fixing or proving or explaining,

There’s nothing else like it.

The Divine Locksmith

Grace is not a theory. 

It’s not an idea.

It’s a person. 

Jesus.

The crucified and risen one. 

The wounded healer who breaks the locks we forged ourselves.

Rohr calls grace the “secret key whereby God offers to be the Divine Locksmith for every life and for all of history.”

What if that’s true?

What if every locked door, 

Every shame, 

Every regret, 

Every unhealed wound, 

Is already known by the One who holds the key?

And what if grace 

Isn’t just how we get into the faith, 

But how we walk it, 

Survive it, 

And live it every day?

Prayer:

God of grace,

I am tired of earning, 

Tired of hiding, 

Tired of holding the keys to my own cage.

Come find me.

Come free me.

Teach me to live like I’m already loved.

Amen.