Grace
September 2023
Grace is defined in several formal ways: unmerited help given to people by God. Freedom from sin through divine grace. A short prayer at a meal. Charm. Attractiveness. Beauty. All of these make sense yet seem to fall short when contextualized within an individual’s recovery.
Many of us who have endeavored to live a “life in recovery” understand fully the gifts of each new day. What weighs heavy is why so many of us either die or live marginalized lives while our disease progresses and leads us to cease to exist within any recognizable form of our most authentic selves.
The question of “why” some of us receive grace to not only live but fully embrace a surrender to our disease. While millions of others fall more deeply into darkness and parish. This equation, this delta, seems to me to contain the truest definition of grace. Some receive this new lease on life while others simply do not. Those who are gifted with an acceptance that we must develop a fully new perspective to navigate life in the light and set themselves in a position to be gifted with this elusive but possible gift of grace.
The greatest burden may be in our countless vail attempts to fully understand why this thing called grace is not more freely granted. I’ve found over the years that this is simply true. Yet it’s not up to me to fully ground my understanding. I just need to accept that there is something far greater than me out there that is in charge of the universe. My job is to live in acceptance of all of life’s circumstances exactly the way they are.
We each have a daily, arguably moment-to-moment opportunity to extend grace. What a beautiful opportunity indeed. By extending grace, we bring comfort to another human or 4 legged. Rather it’s simple patience while waiting in a line or abstaining from judgment with another one’s beliefs, we all can leverage grace to make this world a better place. Challenge yourself each day to look for opportunities to extend this magical mystical thing called grace. Through it, we will all find peace. it need to be said now? Challenge yourself to show up to every interaction in this way and see where it leads.