Spiritual Perspectives
Surprised by Grace

By Thomas E. Richtsmeier
Special to the Independent

“Grace” is a word that Christians frequently use, but just what is it? Is it as simple as when we say “grace”  before meals, or is it an overpowering force that causes life changing events?

Nearly everyone knows the hymn “Amazing Grace,” but except for those who saw this year’s movie of the same name, you may not know its origin. John Newton, the author, was a slave ship captain in the 18th century, living a dissolute life. That changed one night in a great storm; as his ship was foundering he sensed God’s presence and love, and he vowed to reform. Convinced of his misdeeds, he became a Christian, ceased slaving, became a minister, and then publicly opposed slavery. Now that’s power grace!

One’s first appreciation of grace often comes from the Bible. It is Paul who imparts much of our biblical sense of grace using it on ninety some occasions. It arises from his special salvation experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 9: 1-30; 1 Tim 12-7), not unlike Newton’s encounter. He also had recurrent experiences of God’s inexplicable assistance in times of need (1Cor 15:10). In Paul’s sense, grace is inseparable from the “good news”  of the Gospel, as it refers to the expression of God’s saving will as manifested by the life of Christ, and its effects on those moved by it. It includes the sense that it is pure gift, and can not be earned, but is a treasure won by Jesus for humanity. Grace can be as simple as recognizing God’s benevolence, and so saying “thank you,” as in before a meal. Grace can be desired and requested, but the exact gift God bestows can never be predicted. Grace may be given technical definitions, but this idea remains; grace is the undeserved, mysterious but perceivable assistance that can only be divine, and that calls us closer God. The times, seasons, places, situations, needs, and results that one experiences with grace can never be specified. Here follows a story of a small occasion of grace in my life.

In 1978, my wife Jean and I lived in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Trying to begin a family, we first experienced a tubal pregnancy. After the surgery, the obstetrician told us it would be very difficult for us to conceive children. This seemed to be the case until the following year, when Jean became pregnant with our oldest son. (Speaking of grace, the obstetrician backdated the pregnancy precisely to a week where on a prayer weekend, several couples who also had difficulty conceiving prayed over us. Pregnant by grace!) Jean had absolutely no problems, and even continued jogging. She was feeling so well, we decided not to cancel a long-planned backpacking trip. This was not any hike, but a 50 mile loop around the “Circ of the Towers,” a magnificent circle of 12,000 foot peaks in the center of the Bridger-Teton wilderness in Wyoming. In retrospect, this was really dumb, but we were young.
Everything went o.k. until the fifth day, about 25 miles from the trail head (and 60 miles from any help). The day started out as usual on the well marked trail, but we had to cross several rivers in short order, and the trail started to thin out; by midday I realized we were on a deer trail; we were lost. Lost in a vast wilderness, with one and a half days of food left, and Jean pregnant. My skin crawled and mouth dried up. I stopped to rest and decide what to do. I tried to triangulate our location on our maps, but huge evergreens blotted out landmarks. Although really lost, the trail seemed to be going the right direction. We could backtrack five miles on our poorly marked trail, but we might not find the main trail again and we’d be lost even further from help. We could stay on our little trial in hopes it would cross the real one, but it might not, and we’d still be in the wilderness, with little food.

It dawned on me we should pray. We laid out our situation before the Lord, we asked the Lord to get us back on the trail, and I asked forgiveness for my foolishness. We decided to hike until 3 p.m. on our present trail, and if we were still lost, to backtrack until dark. We prayed Jean and our baby would be safe. Jean closed with her own special prayer for finding our way, although I was too soaked in worry to hear her words.

So on we hiked, on an intermittent trail of animal tracks with no sign of any human activity. I prayed up a storm; I tried saying the rosary on my fingers but I kept losing track pushing past branches. At 2:55 p.m. we were barely on any trial and deep in the forest. I spied a large rock in a small meadow, and we climbed up on it to eat a little, to pray, and get ready to backtrack. Then, just as we stood up to start out, I glimpsed three men hiking together through a small break in the trees. Before I could yell, they disappeared behind a large rock formation. They had to be on our trail. “We’ve been found!” I shouted. We sat and awaited their arrival. One, two, three minutes passed and no hikers. Confused, I decided to bushwhack over to where I had seen them, and after fighting my way through dense undergrowth, I stumbled onto the trail we were looking for! I looked down the trial to see the three hikers, about 100 yards away, only to have them disappear behind another boulder. I noticed that none wore packs. I yelled to Jean, “I found the trail!” and with a lot of difficulty, I bushwhacked back to the rock. Thinking our trail probably connected or crossed the main route, we hiked several hundred yards onward, but the deer trail headed away into the dense wilderness. Once back at the rock, we bushwhacked over to the main trail again. Awash with relief and the knowledge we would be o.k. now, we said a prayer of thanksgiving, and I hugged my growing family. Curious about the two trails, I briefly explored the main trail for several hundred yards. The main trail made a little loop out towards the rock we had stood on, but in both directions, headed away from our deer trail. Otherwise, it was dense forest, and you could walk either trail and never know the other was near.

As we put our packs back on and started down this absolutely beautiful trail, I turned to Jean and asked, “Wait a minute... what was it you prayed for back then, when we decided we were lost?” “Well,” Jean said with a huge grin, “I asked that at 3 p.m. the Lord would give us a sign, so we would know the way.” The sunlight was off our rock now, and I couldn’t see it through the trees any more. I realized that only on that rock, seeing through that little clearing, toward the only segment of the trail that looped near us, the trail otherwise hidden by forest, at exactly 3 p.m., I had looked through the little clearing and saw the three men for a second or two. I realized this was a one in a bazillion chance event. And the hikers had no packs... 20 miles from the trail head... a sign... angels! They must have been angels! Overcome with joy, I knew only God could have done this. He had reached down and saved us.
Grace. It’s God’s personal gift for us, for matters small and large. No matter where or how we are lost in our lives, through foolishness (like us), or events, or even by bad choices, God knows exactly where we are and He wants to reach out and save each one of us. If you are up against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, ask for grace. If you want to say thank you, say grace. If you want to get to know God better, ask for grace. There is no time or place from which you can not be reached by the gentle hand of God and his grace.

I once was lost (in Wyoming), but now I’m found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Amazing Grace.

Thomas E. Richtsmeier, M.D., is the chief of cardiology at the Gallup Indian Medical Center, president of CARE 66, and a permanent deacon at Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish. He can be contacted at tomandjeanrich@gmail.com.

This column is written by area residents, representing different faith communities, who share their ideas about bringing a spiritual perspective into our daily lives and community issues.

For information about contributing a guest column, contact Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola at The Independent: (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or lizreligion01@yahoo.com.