On Saturday night, I saw the prettiest sunset I have ever seen in South Carolina. In fact it was so beautiful that I drove an extra three exits because I wasn't ready to let it go. As I marveled at how beautiful it was, the words of President Obama's eulogy for Senator Pinckney washed over me and brought me a deep seated peace that I hadn't felt in days. In that sunset, I was witnessing an expression of God's grace.
Since the shootings at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17, I have been without words — stunned into silence by such a hideous act of hate. Slowly, however, my spirit was renewed as I watched family members of the victims offer words of forgiveness. My spirit rejoiced as politicians and citizens came together to express God's grace by calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from the state house grounds. Witnessing God's love in action over the past two weeks filled my heart with hope even in the midst of my silent grief.
Unfortunately, there have been other moments when my spirit has been anything but fed. How could there have been people outside the South Carolina state house this weekend driving around in pick-up trucks with confederate flags attached to their beds, declaring "Heritage, not hate?" How could passerbys affirm these protests with shouts of "Long live the South?" How can people still deny that racism is deeply embedded in our culture? How can they not see that we must confront the harmful words and acts so that everyone may know they are beloved children of God and that their lives matter not just to God, but to their communities as well?
By the time I saw that beautiful, ethereal sunset on Saturday night my heart was again in need of an expression of God's grace. As I drove along, unable to turn my eyes away from a sunset that so clearly exemplified the glory of God, I knew that President Obama had spoken truth Friday afternoon.
God had a different idea than Dylann Roof had in the aftermath of June 17. Instead of hate and prejudice, God always chooses love — showering expressions of grace into our lives all the time. Sometimes, that grace comes in the form of a sunset; other times through forgiveness and repentance; and still other times through acts of love. Even when we fail to confront the uncomfortable truths of our lives, even when we lift up politicians preaching words of hate instead of acts of love, God's expressions of never-ending, all-encompassing grace somehow manage to infiltrate into our world and bring us hope.
As I watched the differing colors of orange, red, pink, and purple expand into the evening sky, God fed my spirit and reminded me that the light of God's grace cannot be boxed in. The light of God's grace expands to reach us all. And in the end, love always wins.
Elise Scott is a senior at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, studying for her Masters of Divinity.
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