Grace Comma

We often talk about grace periods, but today I want to talk about the grace comma. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our mistakes don't have to be permanent. Instead of "I messed up. Period.", thanks to our Savior's Grace, it can be "I messed up, comma, and we're going to work on it." Whatever we've done, whatever sins we've committed, or laws we've broken, or trusts betrayed, we don't have to be condemned, irrevocably, for all of eternity. We may believe that we have reached the point of no return, but the Savior has changed the period into a comma - our life's sentence is not over yet. There is a scene in the movie Amadeus where Mozart hears a song written by the Court Composer Salieri only one time and he begins to play it perfectly. But he doesn't stop there. On the spot he begins adding to the song, making it more beautiful and ornate. In the movie this is played as an insult to Salieri as Mozart's effortless genius eclipses Salieri's best efforts. But, leaving aside the mean spirited and mocking tone, I think that this scene is a great illustration of how the Savior collaborates with us on our life's work. We make the best sentence possible with all of our limitations and shortsightedness and unresolved traumas and imperfect grasp of the full reality of our situation and when we finally say, This is it! This is all I've got. Period. The Savior comes in and He adds His grace comma, and, in the most loving way possible, says, Let me show you what you were really working on. And like Mozart did with Salieri's song, the Savior takes our simple melody and without changing the best parts of it, begins to add richness and beauty and uplifts and exalts our efforts. Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith and He loves our sentence so much that He is willing to add His name to it, and to keep adding grace commas to it so that our life sentence may run on forever and ever, and we can keep making celestial music together for all eternity.