| When
I was learning Spanish, my teacher described "gracia" as a feeling, a
rightness that is recognized by the heart, as when you recognize the
perfect place for your picnic. You could say the place has
"gracia". The Spanish-English dictionary translates "gracia" to
"grace". It is perhaps the easiest Spanish word for me to remember. Somehow in the search for the implication and meaning of a word in someone else's culture, came a clearer awareness of a spiritual concept. Words are limited. Perhaps it was the very setting of reaching outside of my own bit of the world that opened my heart to ..... get it! Grace, to me, is all about beauty and love, existing in, even permeating God's creation and our actions in it on behalf of each other. It is Walter fixing supper even though I'm late for it. It is green things growing on this earth. It is the grocery store staff who not only show me where to find ____ (fill in the blank) as they are paid (not so much) to do, but also do it with a smile and kindness, not disdain at my lostness. We do not earn grace. We receive it when we accept it, when we sit down in our heart and have a picnic. I give thanks. |
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