Grace and Joy, in their fullest doses, are found in the belly of the whale. The full strength of our need and the full strength of God’s power is best tasted where self-sufficiency is rendered useless and where dependency upon God is all that remains. This is the irony of human freedom found only in bondage to the divine. God is in the business of swallowing us––heart, mind, and body––as baptism symbolizes. Truly, “grace is no nibbler. It swallows and carries us whole” (Carolyn Weber, Holy Is the Day).
“Speculum Darmstadt” by Anonymous
– ULB Darmstadt. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
