Does the saying “There but for the grace of God, go I” mean that God plays favourites?
No! on the contrary, as grace is the undeserved favour offered by God to all. (Those who think they can earn God’s favour by their good deeds are unfortunately “on their own”). John Lindsay, Bomaderry No. It’s not about whether God plays favourites or not because he doesn’t. That said, I don’t pretend to understand the workings of God’s mind and what sometimes appear to be injustices in our eyes. The point of the saying is really to remind us that whenever we see someone a little different to us or doing it tough, we should remember that they deserve at the very least our sympathy because we could have just as easily found ourselves in their situation. Alex Abbey, Parkes Taken literally this saying could appear to carry an air of smug self-righteousness. But no, I believe it is used to convey the capriciousness of life and carries an underlying hope of averting disaster by invoking and at the same time ducking under God’s radar. Gail Hennessy, Rankin Park The original saying was: “Ther
