"the awful grace of God"

"He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God". 

These words from Aeschylus, ancient Greek writer often described as the father of tragedy who preceded Jesus by at least five hundred years, followed the call and commissioning of Abram by about 1500 years. They were also used by Robert F. Kennedy in his speech the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated...words that are timeless even today.

Kennedy's use of what sounds like a Christian translation of these words has been challenged and rightly so. However throughout the Old Testament, we hear stories of pre-Christian people who despite despair and violence, pain and suffering come to the wisdom of the "awful grace of God." Certainly Greek tragedy is riddled with excruciating violence and redemption for which the reader must search long and hard! The Greek translation of awful is deinos, meaning a mix of dread, wonder, and power. In the stories of humankind ever since Abram, humans have come to that wisdom. Perhaps that is what 14th century anchoress Julian of Norwich meant when she said, ""All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well". And that is what we are searching for so longingly today.

Unashamedly I offer words from AI and wikipedia about Aeschylus' use of "awful grace": "Wisdom and redemption often come through painful, uninvited suffering, forcing personal growth. Awful Grace implies a divine, humbling favor that breaks human pride to teach essential lessons."

I would be remiss if I didn't include what followed Robert F. Kennedy's quote from Aeschylus in his speech on that tragic night:

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country...Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”

Only two months later, Robert Kennedy would fall victim to the "savageness of man," which to this day has not been tamed. And still we pray for the "awful grace of God."

April 4, 1968

Robert Kennedy, as he calls for calm following King’s death, quotes Aeschylus’ Oresteia.