Grace Is Slack And Slack Is Essential
Slack: not tight or taut (Merriam-Webster). Slack: something that you must have, the more of it the better (SubGenius). Or as I see it, Slack: the ability to absorb shocks and strains without immediately failing. A bridge built to handle twice its expected load has slack. A submarine built to handle a significantly greater depth than its operating depth has slack. If the normal conditions are exceeded, there is time to recover; mistakes do not carry an automatic death penalty. It is essential for life to exist on a world where conditions are not constant. The fat your body stores up is slack, allowing you to survive for days and weeks should you fail to eat. And grace is a form of slack applied to people. People are difficult. Even when the person we have a relationship with is ourselves, or especially when, relationships are hard work. We mess up. Even when we aren't trying to be mean, we mess up and hurt each other. And without the slack afforded by grace, those mess ups would br