She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 12, 1929, into an affluent family only one generation away from immigration, from Ireland. When children are born into our homes, we have no idea what they will do, who they will become or what their personalities will be like. If we did, we would name them accordingly. After all, doesn’t every parent troll through every book of ‘Names for Babies’ the moment they find out they are expecting? However, in this case, they seemed to have hit the nail on the head. After a normal childhood, could it be called that with gold prize Olympic athletes in her linage, wealthy contractor and later politician for a father, teacher for a mother, and screenwriters, directors of cinema and dramatists for uncles, she completed college herself in 1949. She then embarked on her acting career which, though she became quite renown, only lasted for six years, after which she retired at the ripe old age of twenty-six years. In her short career of six years, she starred in over thirteen films, and received many awards and accolades, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. What could be better than a successful acting career you might ask? This answer may not apply to all and may not be the first thing that comes to your mind, but for her, it was to marry a prince, of course. Believe it or not, this is a true story, and they called her Grace.
In 1956 Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier, III of Monaco, in a civil ceremony lasting for 16 minutes in the Throne Room of Monaco, followed by an elaborate reception attended by thousands. Monaco is the second smallest sovereign city-state, with the Vatican City being the smallest. Monaco is one of the wealthiest countries today and is ruled by their son Prince Albert II. They also had two daughters. Grace began her philanthropic work shortly after their seven-week long honeymoon and stayed involved and engaged in the work of a princess until her death. Some of what she is known for is, being President of the Red Cross of Monaco, Garden Club of Monaco, International Arts Foundation Committee of Monaco, and a Patron of the Rainbow Coalition a children’s orphanage. She founded AMADE Mondiale, an organization for children’s wellbeing, known for its nondiscriminatory values, which has spread to several continents. After many visits to her homeland, Ireland, with Prince Rainier III, she bought her ancestral home there. She died at the early age of fifty-two due to a cerebral hemorrhage, leading to an auto accident where she sustained multiple injuries from which she could not recover.
Grace Kelly stated, “I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others.” That is indeed how she is remembered. She left a powerful legacy of work accomplishments and acts of kindness wherever she went. She helped those who could not help themselves. Every actress envies her and wants to be like her and many have played her in a movie role about her. She was the epitome of beauty, poise, style, fashion, design, talent and is still cited today by modern designers and filmmakers. She still inspires new fashion and has pieces of clothing, handbags, Foundations, Hospitals and Libraries named after her. She was authentic and could be known as someone who was ‘the whole package.’ They called her Grace.
We have all probably seen one variation or another, of a movie where a prince goes as a commoner to a faraway place where he will not be known. He wants to fit in and be accepted for who he is without them knowing of his status as a prince or of his true wealth and heritage. They are very prevalent on the Hallmark channel, with of course the addition to the story of him falling in love with a ‘girl next door.’ She of course, is never good enough for him according to his parents and the country he is from. Something awful is always scripted in, as in the Harlequin Romances back in the day. It must get worse before it can get better and then it comes to a beautiful, heart warming ending that works out for the good of all the characters involved. That of course was not Grace Kelly’s story, because she in fact knowingly married an actual prince, however, this was ‘our’ story.
Genesis 1:1 tells us that, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” As most of us have read, the entire chapter goes on to tell us how everything was created; what, where, how, and who, and that it was perfect. It was called the Garden of Eden. Eden being a Hebrew word meaning, joy, delight, or a place of pleasure. It was created perfect for a purpose, and that was so that God could commune with his creation in this beautiful, perfect place. He created them so they would enjoy His presence and want to spend time with Him of their own free will. They did not know the difference between good and evil, and there was not a need for them to know. God in fact tried to protect them from it, by instructing them regarding all the trees in the garden, including the Tree of Life, they ‘could’ eat of freely, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’ they ‘could not’ eat of, or they would die. This was part His plan to allow them to meet and commune with him of their own free will, which they did daily in the cool of the evening, until their disobedience to the one ‘do not.’ Notwithstanding the entire story of how it happened, which was of no consequence at that point, we move forward in the story. God could no longer meet with them in the same way. Sin separates from God, and sin is disobedience to the word or commandments of God. Therefore, they had to leave that beautiful, perfect place. They did begin to die from that day forward. This story of mankind represents us.
After the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. There are twenty-five scriptures in the Old Testament that declare some close version to, “they found ‘grace’ in the sight of the Lord.” Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Esau, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, the Israelites, David, servants, and kings, and the list continues. However, these were an act upon request for only a certain point in time. The blood of bulls and goats could only bring satisfaction to the wrath of God for their disobedience by rolling their sins ahead for a year. It could not expunge their wrongdoing. Should I say ‘our’ wrongdoing. Hebrews 10:4 tells us this, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” It had to come through an act of selflessness and through someone pure. There was no one to be found that fit the criteria. God loved us so much and he wanted to be loved by us, that he made a plan by which he could redeem us. John 3:16 is that plan in a nutshell, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The virgin girl, Mary that was chosen by God to bear the child, after her initial surprise, confusion, and fear of hearing the news that she was going to have a baby, probably had the same response any young girl has. What in the world will I call him? However, the guess work was taken out of it for her, because the name was chosen by the baby’s Father, God, who is a Spirit. The message from the angel was, in Luke 2 to Mary, and Matthew 1, to Joseph who would be the caregiver to the boy, “thou shalt call his name Jesus”. Why, besides pure astonishment, were they satisfied with this name? Because it is a Hebrew word, Yeshua, meaning to deliver or to rescue. Gabriel the messenger affirmed this when he told Joseph, “He will save His people from their sins.” He also set Mary’s mind at ease when he told her, “He will be of the throne of David, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” From a parent’s point of view, it was perfect. This is what we all want for our children, and His name would bear this out. At the appointed time, we know the story of Jesus birth in a manger. Luke 2:40 “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.”
Philippians 2:5-11 shows us how he came as a lowly human, for the purpose of dying for us, so that we could come back into relationship with Him. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Romans 3:20-26 states, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” We are the ‘girl next door’ and He is the Prince. He has brought us back into Eden and we will have our marriage supper in the throne room someday soon.
How do we get past the naysayers that constantly remind us that we are not worthy, and that we are just commoners? We must ‘retire from our acting careers’ and begin living like, looking like, and doing the work of a princess. They call it Grace. A story from an excerpt from Marc and Angel Chernoff, ‘Getting Back to Happy’ called ‘The Weight of the Glass’ illustrates how our lives are without grace, and the difference grace makes.
“Twenty years ago, when Angel and I were just undergrads in college, our psychology professor taught us a lesson we’ve never forgotten. On the last day of class before graduation, she walked up on stage to teach one final lesson, which she called “a vital lesson on the power of perspective and mindset.” As she raised a glass of water over her head, everyone expected her to mention the typical “glass half empty or glass half full” metaphor. Instead, with a smile on her face, our professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?”
Students shouted out answers ranging from a couple of ounces to a couple of pounds.
After a few moments of fielding answers and nodding her head, she replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass is irrelevant. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the absolute weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.”
As most of us students nodded our heads in agreement, she continued. “Your worries, frustrations, disappointments, and stressful thoughts are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a little while and nothing drastic happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to feel noticeable pain. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed, incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.””
God has made a provision for us, so that we do not have to carry the weight of our worries, frustrations, disappointments, stressful thoughts, or sin ourselves. It is called Grace. Webster’s dictionary tells us what grace is, “Definition of grace, 1a: unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification. b: a virtue coming from God. c: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance. 2a: APPROVAL, FAVOR, stayed in his good graces. b: archaic: MERCY, PARDON c: a special favor: PRIVILEGE each in his place, by right, not grace, shall rule his heritage — Rudyard Kipling. d: disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency. e: a temporary exemption: REPRIEVE.” We are granted a stay of execution not of our own merit, but because of the blood that Jesus shed in our stead. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We can have peace and joy, and Eden on earth again, not because we have earned it or because of our lineage but because we take on his name in baptism (Acts 2, 8, 10 ,19). We were separated from God, just like Adam and Eve, but we have become justified, sanctified, and married into His family whereby we become heirs with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:11, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Ephesians 2: 4-8 explains, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
There have been many royals who have married commoners. Sonja Haraldsen a commoner has been married to Prince Harald for fifty-one years and she became Queen when he ascended to the throne of Norway in 1991. Prince Carl Gustaf of Sweden married a hostess, Silvia Sommerlath in 1976. Rania a marketer, became Queen of Jordan upon her marriage to Abdullah bin al-Hussein. The Vice President of Institutional sales at the Deutsche Bank in New York City became Queen of the Netherlands when she married Prince Willem-Alexander, in 2002. Our story began with Grace Kelly, an actress marrying Prince Rainier III in 1956. Their son, Prince Albert II, married Charlene Wittstock, an Olympic swimmer from South Africa, a commoner as well, in the year 2000. Prince William married Kate Middleton an art history major at the University of St. Andrews in 2011. The list goes on, but the stories are the same. No, they did not deserve the position, they were breaking with tradition, they were, and some still are recipients of much criticism, but they became exceptions to the rule, because of their love for one another, they were extended grace.
Romans 5:8 states, “But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We were common, unclean, and unworthy, but He said, “I will pay the price, I will break with tradition because I love them.” 1 Peter 2:9 tells us we are now royalty, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Noah and his family were saved from the flood, three Hebrew children were spared from the fiery furnace, Rahab the harlot and her family were saved in the battle of Jericho, and later she was found in the linage of the Messiah. A shepherd boy named David was anointed King of Israel, these along with many other stories that are listed in the scriptures are examples to us. And how was all this possible? How is it possible for us to be so blind, then receive our sight, be so poor, yet become so rich, be a slave, but be set free, be so lost, but then be found, be so unlovable but still be loved? They call it Grace.