March 20 - Fourth Grade Grace

Contributed by Elisa Zwier, senior elementary education major from Miami, Fla. on Tuesday March 19

Scripture

Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-2 - O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever."
Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Devotion

Rainbow-hued plastic shapes swirl in
murky waters of a makeshift snow globe
no graceful ballerinas within.
Hurting eyes peer back through Technicolor flakes
“No one else wanted my special project,” Kindra blurts
shoving a used Gatorade bottle into a teacher's elbow crook.
This windowsill is just the spot for it.

People Kindra cared about had ignored her makeshift treasure. Maybe they were too busy or preoccupied to realize she felt that her unique gift had been rejected. Yet she kept offering to share her snow globe.

Our lives are brimming with stories of times we were accepted or rejected or when we were the one accepting or rejecting. Verse 22 highlights the rejection of a stone; noting how it is re-embraced as “the chief cornerstone.”

Who takes a rejected object and accepts it, even making it special? The psalmist readily answers: “This is the Lord’s doing.” We praise God for an ever-present “steadfast love,” a gift of rainbow-hued grace to view daily life through.

How can we respond? Like Kindra, we can try to celebrate the small graces and acceptances, both as givers and receivers.

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”