Grace-Full

Saving Grace.

We hear that so often. It's a movie. It's a tv show. It's a song. It's the title of many books. It's the name of countless organizations. Google "saving grace" and you'll find all sorts of websites with variations of the term. In our society, we mostly use the expression to talk about one's redeeming qualities. For example: Her saving grace when she passes out from drinking has always been her ability to keep her panties on. And if I am remembering what I learned in Catholic schools correctly, Grace in the Church is what God grants us in order to be free from all of our sins. It is also a state of God, if I'm not mistaken. We all sin. We all have darkness. But we also all have grace. We all have God in us. So, no matter what your demons are, grace is always there . . .. God is always there . . . in each of us . . ..to free us . . . so that no matter what, we are still good. We are full of Grace. It's saving us.

I love this idea of it always being around to save us. Perhaps it's because I'm so terribly flawed. I did, in fact, grow up thinking that the Rolling Stones were referring to me when they sang, "graceless lady." And maybe it's my own flaws that have allowed me to easily find other people's saving graces. Give me the most horrible person that you can find, and I'll point out a good quality. I might point out several. The difference between the "good" qualities that I find and the goodness that the universe/God/yourself/Love might find, is that the ones I discover might not be profound enough to redeem one. However, the qualities God sees are enough to allow you to be forgiven. Does this make sense? For example, give me a murderer. You paint the picture as it doesn't really matter since all murderers are bad. I can find value in his artwork or in the gardens that he grows or in his ability to nurture his three cats. This person isn't completely horrible. So, you might agree that the killer has some value, but that value isn't enough to redeem him of his unimaginable behavior. God's Love (or the universe's Love or the Love that is just residing in you or whatever you chose to call it) . . .his Grace . . .is enough to matter. So even this terrible person can receive Grace and be forgiven. He can still bathe in the God/Love/Grace that is each of ours. It can save him.

It saddens me that we don't make lists of our saving graces. Instead, we are constantly reminding ourselves of our faults . . .which is maybe the opposite of Grace? Maybe the opposite of grace isn't the actual bad behavior, but the act of dwelling on it or pointing it out. It seems that if this were the case, that dwelling would be the most upsetting thing we could do to our creator . . .since he is only offering us a state of Grace (forgiveness/love/him). So, I'm thinking today that we need to change the dialogue. Maybe just today we can focus on our own and each other's good parts. Let the bashing slide on past you. Only invite Grace in today. Only give out Grace. Bathe in the Saving Grace.