Lifting the Veil

Jay Grant

I like to brag. In fact, most people I know like to brag. Bragging

wells up within us when we are proud of something.

When I was a kid, I bragged about Stan Musial, first baseman for the

St. Louis Cardinals.

“He’s the best player in the major leagues,” I used to crow as I

traded baseball cards with my buddies. “Nobody can hit like him.”

When I got a little older, I bragged about my ’56 Chevy Nomad.

“Man, this car is bitchin’. Just look at how beautiful it is. There

isn’t another car on the road I would rather own.”

Then I moved out of my folks house and bragged about my new apartment.

“I live in Newport Beach,” I loudly boasted, proud to be among those

special folks privileged to live on Balboa Island.

These days I brag about a few things a little more important to me

than baseball, classic cars or “The Island.” I brag about my wife, a

superb artist, and about our 28-year marriage, telling people there isn’t

another woman in the world for me except Nikki. I also boast about the

Sawdust Festival where we both work every summer and winter.

I boast about my two sons, Dustin and Micah. Dustin is working for a

thriving company and doing better than ever. I’ll be officiating at his

wedding next month. Micah just graduated from the Musicians Institute in

Hollywood at the top of his class and has begun teaching guitar lessons

for a living. He is a superb musician and songwriter.

I like to boast about Canyon Acres. I think my street is the coolest

street in town. It’s my opinion that Canyon Acres has the best neighbors

in Laguna -- wonderful, caring people who all pulled for one another so

magnificently after the firestorm in 1993. We lost two-thirds of our

homes but didn’t lose our spirit. Our street sprang quickly back to life.

However, what I most like to brag about is God. That’s why I write

this column. I want you to know what the lord is like, especially since

there are so many misconceptions about him. So read carefully as I brag

about the one who has made my life so completely worthwhile.

First off, God is good. He has been unfailingly good to me in the

past. He has been good to me today. And he will be good to me in all my

tomorrows. In a world full of people who ignore or reject him, God is

amazingly good, even to those disbelieving people.

God loves me and, yes, God loves you, whoever you are. God’s love for

me is unconditional, irrevocable and eternal. God loves me as much on my

worst day as he does on my best day. God loves me and God loves you

because the very essence of God is love. God even loves those who scoff

at the mere mention of his name.

God is unbelievably compassionate. Within his very nature lies a deep

desire to show mercy, bestow grace and to grant forgiveness. God

understands weakness and failure and constantly expresses to me how

incredibly gracious he is.

God reaches out to the destitute. His heart is for the downtrodden,

the ill, those suffering from addiction, abuse or dependency. The lord so

identifies with the down and out that when we visit the prisoner, give to

the poor, feed the hungry, invite a stranger in or attend to the sick,

God says we have literally ministered to him.

God sits outside of time. He is limitless, boundless and infinite. He

is encased in an unimaginable glory. God is awe-inspiring, wondrous and

magnificent. He is kind, generous, approachable, slow to anger and swift

to bless. He is the lord of hosts, the eternal and awesome creator of the

universe and there is no one like him. God stands utterly alone in the

splendor of his incomprehensible magnificence.

The lord can be completely trusted. You can put your confidence in him

for he will not let you down. God is captivating, matchless in beauty,

altogether lovely. Combine all the beauty of this earth and it is a mere

shadow of how absolutely beautiful God is. In the midst of his beauty,

lies incredible power, strength and majesty. God is the king, the lord

and no one approaches his greatness.

The wise seek after him. And when they find him, their lives are never

ever the same again.

*Jay Grant is a pastor and 32 year resident of Laguna Beach. He can be

reached at P.O. Box 391, L.B. CA 92652 or by e-mail: nikkinjay@cox.net.