For those who love the highest good that is God, there is a vertical dimension which transcends the horizontal. This makes to possible step outside of the escalation, to see the humanity in the other, and ultimately, to forgive. This allows us to acknowledge that while the goods of the earthly city are genuine goods, they are not ultimate goods.
And this is the real wonder of Christmas. Simply this: that God has come. God has broken the reign of sin and death. God has liberated us. God is with us in Jesus Christ. Whether we feel it or not, weather we believe it or not, it remains the case: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”
And we pray, not / for new earth or heaven, but to be / quiet in heart, and in eye, / clear. What we need is here.
-Wendell Berry
There is no tension between the two: God's grace and judgement are the same movement; the one implies the other.
Coffee with Kierkegaard 