We use the word to describe something ineffable, some beneficent force that moves into and through our lives - carrying boons to in some way avert calamity or rescue us from suffering.
What happens, then, when we consider its source? Where does Grace actually come from?
There’s a tendency in western thought to assign Grace to an action taken by God on one’s behalf - by the Grace of God this or that did or did not take place.
I’d like to propose this inquiry… might it be somewhat more participatory?
“Bad” things happen to people who don’t “deserve” it all the time, and nefarious individuals go through cycles of gain and praise.
So it can’t simply be that to behave in a certain way garners grace, as if meritorious acts could be accumulated in order to earn “grace points”.
Studying the presence of Grace in the Eastern traditions, my then-professor Douglas Brooks asked us to consider these three points about Grace:
You can’t ask for it, you don’t deserve it, you can’t pay it back.
Let’s unpack this from the middle, as many psyches will lock in on that middle phrase and refuse to go further… what does it mean that you don’t DESERVE Grace?
Aren’t we deserving of everything the universe has to offer? Isn’t the whole point of achieving human existence, to bask in the immensity of all that is good and gracious and beneficial?
Let us understand that it is not a question of whether we are worthy or “ok-enough” to participate in Grace; rather it is that there is no way for any one person to become more worthy than any other person. In other words, Grace does not respond to a merit system -it is oncoming to all individuals with equal velocity at all times, like a wind that blows in the face of Saints as well as the most wretched, unaffected by the disparity in their countenances.
That you can’t pay Grace back may seem obvious. Still, the idea takes on a depth that quiets the heart in earnest contemplation… that there is a beneficent force working in our favor and we are helpless to repay it because - well, in order to repay something there has to be acknowledgement of debt. Grace is issued from itself- there is no gap between the beneficence and its source, so it is not giving anything away… it is just flowing ceaselessly ever outward, like a spring in the earth… how can you put water back into a flowing spring? It’s not possible. Likewise with Grace. One of the surest ways to uncover one’s indwelling sense of humility is to contemplate this aspect of Grace.
Coming Full Circle to consider the beginning, what does it mean that you can’t ask for Grace? Isn’t it part of our nature to call upon Grace during times of need, distress, or significance?
The very premise of prayer hangs on the notion that Grace is somehow responsive to our imploring. And yet… we return to the observation that some prayers go (seemingly) unanswered.
Let’s return to the image of Grace as a blowing wind, moving equally across all in its path (picture rocks, for example). Is it possible, through petition or sheer force of will, to divert a stream of that wind toward one object more intensely than those surrounding it?
Here’s the participatory part:
What would happen if one of the objects developed an opening - an aperture that Grace could flow through rather than onto/over/around?
How might this contemplation inform our expectations? The way we orient ourselves?
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