Even then...

Even when we were dead, Paul writes.

Even when we turned away from the One who had created us.

Even when we lived in the grip of what drew our gaze from God.

Even when we were oblivious.

Even when we followed a path fashioned of nothing but our own desires.

Even when we wandered far and willfully away.

Even when we forgot to look past our own feet and to see the wonders not of our making.

Even when we failed to stand in awe, to breathe thanks, to lean into the love that had waited long for us.

Even when, Paul writes.

Even when,

even then:

grace.

Poem by Jan Richardson, The Painted Prayer Book