Grace
Grace is often misunderstood. It is not limited to pleasant moments or favorable outcomes. Rather, it is the mysterious presence woven through all of creation - through every aspect of life and living - including what we are quick to label as dark, wrong, or even evil
When we think of Grace, we love the observation of Arlo Guthrie, the singer and storyteller, “You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in.”
This is not merely a pollyanna perspective, rather an acknowledgment that philosophers, spiritualists and wise ones have grappled eternally with the many difficulties of life and living including any number of tragic and troubling realities. As Father Richard Rohr likes to tell us, "The path of descent is the path of transformation". He argues that personal growth, maturity, and deep spirituality are not achieved through constant ascent (success, perfection), but through suffering, failure, and letting go. Or as we like to observe from our experience, there can be no breakthrough without breakdown. Where Grace is concerned, and this is a kind of Radical Grace, nothing is excludable.
This is such a transcendent viewpoint that many will label it ridiculous or heretical. Yet the evidence is strong that the better we “lean into the sharp points,” as the great Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron, likes to say, the more fruitful will be our life journeys and spiritual progress.
Interestingly enough, the great teachers have always leaned to examples, illustrations, stories, parables and the like to aid us in understanding. It seems to be simply too difficult for us to get our minds aligned with the idea that every day, every thing is part of what has been called a marvelous entanglement. We cannot successfully tease out the good stuff because it is all deeply enmeshed with the rest of reality.
Do you have difficulty accepting the challenges that life brings? Have you struggled with your own darkness and disillusionment when facing the failings in your world? Or do you balk at imagining that all of creation is somehow benevolent, even with pain and suffering? Can you even imagine allowing or welcoming those people, events and circumstances that seem ugly or harmful? How open-minded can you be to the possibility that everything in your experience is Grace?
CONTEMPLATIONS ON GRACE
Below you will find graphics intended to use thoughts, examples, or anecdotes to nudge us toward SeeingTrue™ and the experience of Radical Grace. Included are links to blogs or other free content that are an expression of our commitment to you and your transformation. If you would like to work with Ron, click HERE. To receive these psycho-spiritual nudges weekly in your email, subscribe HERE.
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The Christian Mystic, Joel Goldsmith, once said that anytime someone brings forth the remarkable reality of a Radical Grace, a great example being the Gospels, it’s only a matter of time before most people regress to some kind of retribution. It seems the ideas of unconditionality and forgiveness are simply too challenging for many of us to fully embrace. When we are wounded, we seem to need to find someone or something to blame. Retribution always follows.
Who would we be, and how would we act if fairness and equity were first in our approach?
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