Grace is defined as the “freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.” It’s those times when God touches our lives unexpectedly, those rare moments when we can see and be present with the Beloved in whatever circumstances may be happening and whoever the Beloved shows up to be. My past couples of columns were inspired by pain. Circumstances in my life did not go the way I wanted them to or expected them to and my reaction was defensiveness and fear. But, in those moments, I knew I had a choice to continue suffering or call for Grace.  Often, I have no idea what to write about until a few moments before I sit down. I’m guided to different books or inspirational sources that fill the gaps and grace me with the content of what I’m supposed to say. Our entire life’s journey is sacred, even painful times can be looked back upon as moments of grace.

Usually the best way to get what we want is to be the source. If we want to feel happiness, make someone happy. If we don’t want to feel lonely, be a companion to someone else. The fastest way to receive what we want is to cause someone else to experience it. This is the formula for magic. When painful things happen, we tend to question the infinite love of the universe. We may not see the beautiful designs being embroidered by the soul and our connection to all souls. Elizabeth Kubler Ross said, “Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the beauty of their carvings.” Moments of grace are not always graceful when God gives us a jolt with unexplainable experiences and it’s our job to look deeply and find the grace. Neale Donald Walsch defines miracles as “exactly the right thing happening in exactly the right way at exactly the right time.” Sometimes, it feels impossible to fit certain experiences into this definition and that’s why miracles always include a change in perception. The more we see miracles in everyday life, the more miracles we’ll see.

People often ask, “How do I know when I’m receiving a communication from God and not just random thoughts from who knows where?” We know because God’s are the highest thoughts, the clearest words and create the grandest feelings. Anything less is from another source. The highest thoughts always lead to joy. The clearest words lead to truth and the grandest feelings always contains love. After we’ve experienced moments of grace, what do we do? Many of us label them coincidences, brush them aside, write them off or just forget about them. Let’s share our stories of grace and allow others to be inspired to find hope, to learn and to come to remember things they’ve always known but have forgotten. Everything we think, say and do is an expression of who we are. With awareness of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it ─ just looking at ourselves ─ we can change who we are and the world around us.

With the understanding and acceptance that every thought, word and deed places creative juices into the machinery of the universe, we’ll begin to experience our lives in a totally different way. We wake up and have a chance to move our lives to the next level of consciousness. We don’t have to continue operating as a primitive culture believing that we’re separate from God and separate from each other. We don’t have to be observers of our evolution; we can consciously create it. Let’s come out of the closet, shout our truth, call for grace and tell our stories so as Gandhi said, we can “Be the change.”

Please write to Dr. Sandy Islands at sandyislands@hawaii.rr.com and feel free to browse previous articles at www.sandyislands.com/publications.html