A Month of Grace

Gifts are as the gold which adorns the temple; grace is like the temple that sanctifies the gold.
William Burkitt

But grace means more than gifts. In grace something is transcended, once and for all overcome. Grace happens in spite of something; it happens in spite of separateness and alienation. Grace means that life is once again united with life, self is reconciled with self. Grace means accepting the abandoned one. Grace transforms fate into a meaningful vocation. It transform guilt to trust and courage. The word grace has something triumphant in it.
Yrj Kallinen, Finnish thinker writing about Paul Tillich's thinking