By Dr. Sandy Islands for Conch Color
Though grace, the love, healing, forgiveness and prosperity we seek is always available even if we don’t believe we deserve the blessing. To enjoy the benefits of grace we must practice it daily. True spirituality is not a philosophy but the life we live and the grace we extend living it. Many of us have a hard time receiving gifts because we feel we don’t deserve them. When someone gives us a gift or compliment, we minimize it. If a co-worker tells us we look good, we might say, “What? This old rag, I’ve had it for years,” rather than simply saying, “Thanks.” We can extend grace by saying, “Thank you,” more often through out our day. We can offer grace by taking every opportunity to forgive at times when the world would offer punishment.
I was having an off day this week, not feeling well, had a root canal the previous day and was downtown trying to find a parking space to get to court on time. My parking angel opened a space in the lot close to court and the attendant allowed me to move a cone blocking the spot. I got out of my car, moved the cone and was about to pull in when another driver pulled in front of me and took my spot. I was frustrated and intolerant so I honked the horn. How dare you pull into my spot? I thought. Even though there was one right next to it which I pulled into, I got out of my car, gave the driver a dirty look and told him in an ungracious tone that he’d taken my spot. He looked shocked and mumbled, “Sorry,” and I could see that he was completely unaware of what I’d done. Later, I ran into him in a food shop. We exchanged a glance but said nothing. I realized almost instantly that I could have handled the situation better and that I’d missed the opportunity to acknowledge my less-than-gracious behavior in the lot. At every moment we contribute to the sum total of love or the sum total of fear in the universe. I let my moment of grace pass me by, but I received a lesson in looking at myself. I was aware that I’d chosen to stay stuck in my self-righteousness rather than express grace. Had I shifted my attitude, I would have felt better about myself and changed how my day unfolded.
Each time we extend grace, we are the first recipient. We can change an angry or depressed attitude in a moment by bringing ourselves into the present and decide to raise our consciousness to a higher place no matter how right we think we are. The darkness lifts. It’s like Dorothy walking out of her crashed house into the land of OZ. We feel wonderful, refreshed and alive. The black cloud dissipates and a rainbow appears. This is grace. Any moment can transform into grace. When we dismiss all limiting ideas of what we must do to be healed or happy, we let go of control and let grace in. Grace is our natural state since we are all God’s children and God is love.
Everyday we can find endless reminders that we live in a grace-filled universe when we keep our eyes and hearts open. We become what we think about all day long. Our lessons are the challenges we overcome in our journey called life. It’s the journey, not the destination that’s sacred. Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said, “Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you’d never see the beauty of their carvings.” Grace lifts us up from small thinking into the world of miracles and allows us to bless everything that happens in our everyday lives. Please write to Dr. Sandy Islands at sandyislands@hawaii.rr.com