“Christians like the idea of saved in the nick of time.” So ended a recent New York Times column on famous deathbed repentances. What exactly is it that appeals to us about eleventh-hour redemption?

In fact, the idea sometimes seems quite unappealing. A friend once debated heatedly with me over what seemed to her the egregious unfairness of a God who would pardon an axe murderer in the last seconds of his life if only he repented. How could God waive the offenses of a lifetime in favor of a moment’s desire?

Part of the answer is the power of grace. God is not chained by our sins. Infinitely larger than any evil we could commit, His mercy sweeps up the smallest splinter of God-directed longing and builds it into a ladder to heaven.

We should not, however, limit His power to the final hours of our life — over which we will likely have no control. A fellow theology teacher’s lesson, which I observed recently, reminded me of the effects His power should have during every hour of every day.

My colleague began by inviting the students to articulate their life goals. “Make money,” volunteered one. “Attend the University of Michigan,” said another. “Do well on finals.” The teacher finally proclaimed, “I am now going to insult you.” The class collectively drew its breath. “These goals,” she stated slowly, “are trash.” Stunned silence enveloped the room. “Which one of you wrote down as a goal: ‘To become like God?’” I realized she was quoting St. Athanasius’s, “The Son of God became man that man might become God.”

“You think,” she continued, “‘it would be boring to be like God. Doesn’t He sit around all day on clouds?’ You are right to want greatness, not boredom! But these goals are all boring and safe. Sure, some of you will have to work to do well on finals or attend the college of your choice, but the work is within your comfort zone. Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘You were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.’ And if you are to become like God, you will have to be uncomfortable.”

She proceeded to paint a picture of Christ’s sufferings as applied to the students’ daily lives: you are mocked when you refuse to look at prurient pictures with friends; crowned with thorns when you withdraw from a conversation that veers into gossip; crucified when you take the blame for a mess your sibling made.

How easily, I realized, we get comfortable with comfort. Even those of us who know we are called to greatness do not think ourselves capable of attaining it. Where is our faith in God’s grace? Jesus, in a moment of exasperation with the Sadducees, asked, “Are you not misled because you do not know the power of God?” (Mk 12:24). Do we know the power of God? If so, we will become great saints, not skid into heaven on the unlikely splinter of deathbed good will.