Matters of Grace

Starting the Advent season, I find that my spirits are more heavy than usual. I feel burdened by life's tasks and weary; more so, I've been feeling guilt over my inability to accomplish enough with my current resources. In other words, I'm knee deep in humanity. It's in moments like this when I can use a reminder of what grace is all about. Like a breath of fresh air: Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There’s no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do. Inhale..... exhale. Thanks be to God.

I try really hard to work 'grace' into my attitude ..... but that doesn't mean I don't complain. A lot. Truth be told, I've never really noticed how much I complained until I happened upon a fantastic blog written by a woman who made the decision to kick the habit. You can check out the inspiring blog here: http://bit.ly/4bU2Er Perhaps I've never noticed my complaining because, to me, it was just another part of "venting" or even *problem solving.* But it's not. Venting is a release of something, be it air, heat or emotion. So when a person 'vents' s/he releases some sort of tension then forgets about it and moves on. Problem solving , according to Wikipedia, is " mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and co

A friend of mine, one I've known on such a deep level for more than five years, forwarded an email to me. It was a casting call put out by a reputable agency that read: " LOOKING FOR UNUSUAL & UNCONVENTIONAL POSTMODERN FAMILIES ." Well, okay, I suppose he sent this to me because he finds my household to be unusual and/or unconventional. I suppose some might feel that way, given that I'm a single mom to three. Then again, the kids and I forget that we are a "single parent" household; on the contrary, we feel like an ordinary "normal" and "healthy" family who camps, laughs and struggles the same as any other "normal" and "healthy" family. It has been said that single parenthood has been linked to drug abuse, poor grades and other horrible things; however I cannot verify this as my children bring home A's from school, no one abuses toxins and we do not live off of government assistance. I love my friend and u

Next Wednesday is "Ash Wednesday" which, as many know, is the first day of Lent. Lent is my favorite season of the Liturgical calendar not because I like to give up chocolate, or fish or whatever it is people like to do without, but because it is the time of the year when we stand closest to what is true. It is the time of the year that begins when my pastor dips his fingers into ash, marks the sign of the cross on my brow and says: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" I take a good deal of comfort in those words because they strip away the facades I work so hard to build and they do it with simplicity. From the labels that stoke my ego's fire to the costumes that dictate the roles I choose to play, all removed. And the relief is almost too great to digest. Now if only I can maintain that freedom well into the year to come. Perhaps it might help to meditate upon the words of one of my favorite wordsmiths, T.S. Eliot: Suffer us not to m