It's Complicated
We as humans are complicated. we are difficult to understand and even more difficult to to live with. We lie, hurt, steal happiness and justify our bad behavior. We do not attempt to know ourselves, but seek to understand others. We pass judgment on things we do not understand, and ostricize entire populations based on our own understanding, our narrow minded understanding. We label, criticize, and hate anything that is different from our own comfort zone. We expect love from others but we are unwilling to extend love, even to ourselves.
We do not learn from mistakes, we repeat them, sometimes over and over again. We make apologies for bad decisions but do not change our behavior. We claim to stand for our convictions, but often do so from the sidelines. We are complicated.
But one word keeps coming back to me. One word keeps returning to my mind and my heart. That word is Grace. Grace:disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency. Grace allows us to extend kindness to what we do not understand, to encourage and support those who we may not understand and to forgive those who have made decisions we do not agree with.
Grace allows us to unravel the tangle of self absorption and look to others with kindness. it is the act of loving when we can't even love ourselves. Grace lends to forgiveness, and forgiveness lends to freedom. No matter what your religious, political or societal views, grace transcends and allows for barriers to be broken and for love to overcome hate.
Grace does not come easily, it is as complicated as us humans. It takes a conscious decision to extend grace. To be graceful means denying your self to serve others. It means we set aside selfishness and seek the happiness of others. If we all extended grace to others, the world would be peaceful and profitable. The problem is......many of us do not understand or know how to extend grace, because we have never received it. We as humans are in a survival of the fittest mode, and we will trample whoever stands in our way before we extend our hand to walk with someone through their struggle.
I have encountered very few examples of grace, and I am not the most graceful person, but I am resolving to take grace giving one day at a time. I start with extended grace to myself. Will you?
We do not learn from mistakes, we repeat them, sometimes over and over again. We make apologies for bad decisions but do not change our behavior. We claim to stand for our convictions, but often do so from the sidelines. We are complicated.
But one word keeps coming back to me. One word keeps returning to my mind and my heart. That word is Grace. Grace:disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency. Grace allows us to extend kindness to what we do not understand, to encourage and support those who we may not understand and to forgive those who have made decisions we do not agree with.
Grace allows us to unravel the tangle of self absorption and look to others with kindness. it is the act of loving when we can't even love ourselves. Grace lends to forgiveness, and forgiveness lends to freedom. No matter what your religious, political or societal views, grace transcends and allows for barriers to be broken and for love to overcome hate.
Grace does not come easily, it is as complicated as us humans. It takes a conscious decision to extend grace. To be graceful means denying your self to serve others. It means we set aside selfishness and seek the happiness of others. If we all extended grace to others, the world would be peaceful and profitable. The problem is......many of us do not understand or know how to extend grace, because we have never received it. We as humans are in a survival of the fittest mode, and we will trample whoever stands in our way before we extend our hand to walk with someone through their struggle.
I have encountered very few examples of grace, and I am not the most graceful person, but I am resolving to take grace giving one day at a time. I start with extended grace to myself. Will you?
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