Welcoming grace (unwrapping the present of a sacred visitation) involves a paradox. Even if we know that the intended outcome of the revelation is that we change, that we grow, we may not understand exactly how to cooperate with the process. All change is not necessarily good, just as all growth is not necessarily hard. Sometimes we change in the name of making ourselves better people, only to grow into the wisdom that we have bullied our bodies and force-fed our minds in a most uncompassionate way. I often discover that the most profound changes in my character take place almost without my knowledge, even in my sleep! Spiritual growth occurs in its own time, the way flowers unfurl or butterflies emerge. Divine love, like the light of the sun, gentles us into transforming. It does not force itself on us. So, gently, gradually, we learn to welcome grace simply by noticing its presence, watching and appreciating it, growing ever more curious about it, consistently inquiring into its teachings in whatever form they appear, whether beautiful or terrible or simply neutral. Fair warning: Practicing awareness heightens awareness. The more you practice, the more you tend to notice. In time your awareness is not limited only to appreciating the ethereal light in the faces of babies or the tender vulnerability of a loved ones heart in an intimate moment. That heightened awareness now also means that when you hear someone threatening another, inside you a surprising change has taken place: your heart breaks on behalf of both of them. Almost without your permission, your throat catches, and in a split-second you feel the same misery felt by legions of secretly frightened people everywhere. In that momentan ordinary moment of your ordinary dayyou see, feel, and understand that were all in this together. And your heart aches and expands in compassion for every one of us. |
