What a beautiful and thoughtful piece dear Frances. I’d never connected or considered grace in this way before. Thank you so much. I especially loved “The machinery of judgment is fast; the machinery of understanding is slow”
In all the ways I have considered grace and tried to cultivate it in this long old life, I have never thought of it as being a radical act, and that is just what it is. That is pleasing to this elderly, rather eccentric female. In its original sense, radical means rooted, and surely, grace and rootedness go hand in hand.
Presencing or being present in the moment and place where you are invites a kind of softening grace. As does the gesturing prayer of Julian of Norwich ~ await/allow/accept/ attend with accompanying hand gestures. Using body, voice and mind to be holy present is perhaps the manifestation of inner grace … hope so … a favorite thought ~
Where you are is the place of your blessing; How you are is your place of grace; Who you are, in your Becoming is your place of belonging 🫶🏻
**Accept imperfection as the operating condition.** Of all the advice this truly describes how to aim for a state of grace. Before making the cruel comment, the snide remark, the critical snippet, the unkind observation…we must accept imperfection as the operating condition for every one of us.
We weren’t put on earth to be perfect nor to judge others based on how we perceive their imperfections.
I also like ‘grace is a direction we head for’ and like any journey some days are easy while other days test us but we should always head in the direction of grace for it is our ultimate destiny.
Thank you Frances, as usual a thought provoking post.
I feel I can never respond to your posts in the way they deserve as I only have an I phone
However I will try. For me Grace has a numinous quality
Numinous and luminous , it can be seen in events, in some people, certainly in young children, in animals and in nature . when I have been made aware of it, it’s as if that being or event has been touched by something divine
as you say Frances in Sufism grace is the very medium in which the divine moves ,
And the saying of grace before meals brings an awareness of something Other and gratitude for what we are about to eat ,
Grace makes me pause and wonder . I feel some art has this quality of grace , divinely inspired
It arrests motion
We need this quality so much more in ourselves and in our world so thank you Frances I shall now be noticing more and reflecting more
Thank you for the parsing of this elusive quality. There is so much here,I'll re-read it. At first I felt sadness, believing the world is not presently built to honour and elicit grace, but then thought, it depends on where I look and how I choose to act.
What a beautiful and thoughtful piece dear Frances. I’d never connected or considered grace in this way before. Thank you so much. I especially loved “The machinery of judgment is fast; the machinery of understanding is slow”
Have a lovely Sunday xxx
In all the ways I have considered grace and tried to cultivate it in this long old life, I have never thought of it as being a radical act, and that is just what it is. That is pleasing to this elderly, rather eccentric female. In its original sense, radical means rooted, and surely, grace and rootedness go hand in hand.
Presencing or being present in the moment and place where you are invites a kind of softening grace. As does the gesturing prayer of Julian of Norwich ~ await/allow/accept/ attend with accompanying hand gestures. Using body, voice and mind to be holy present is perhaps the manifestation of inner grace … hope so … a favorite thought ~
Where you are is the place of your blessing; How you are is your place of grace; Who you are, in your Becoming is your place of belonging 🫶🏻
**Accept imperfection as the operating condition.** Of all the advice this truly describes how to aim for a state of grace. Before making the cruel comment, the snide remark, the critical snippet, the unkind observation…we must accept imperfection as the operating condition for every one of us.
We weren’t put on earth to be perfect nor to judge others based on how we perceive their imperfections.
I also like ‘grace is a direction we head for’ and like any journey some days are easy while other days test us but we should always head in the direction of grace for it is our ultimate destiny.
Thank you Frances, as usual a thought provoking post.
Hello Frances
A lovely post
I feel I can never respond to your posts in the way they deserve as I only have an I phone
However I will try. For me Grace has a numinous quality
Numinous and luminous , it can be seen in events, in some people, certainly in young children, in animals and in nature . when I have been made aware of it, it’s as if that being or event has been touched by something divine
as you say Frances in Sufism grace is the very medium in which the divine moves ,
And the saying of grace before meals brings an awareness of something Other and gratitude for what we are about to eat ,
Grace makes me pause and wonder . I feel some art has this quality of grace , divinely inspired
It arrests motion
We need this quality so much more in ourselves and in our world so thank you Frances I shall now be noticing more and reflecting more
Thank you for the parsing of this elusive quality. There is so much here,I'll re-read it. At first I felt sadness, believing the world is not presently built to honour and elicit grace, but then thought, it depends on where I look and how I choose to act.