Luxuriating in Grace
The soul is spacious, plentiful and its amplitude is impossible to exaggerate…the sun here radiates to every part…and nothing can diminish its beauty.—St. Teresa of Avila
Some of the early saints seem to have had a step up on contemporary Christianity. How is that possible? Was life simpler in the 16th century when the above inspiring words came to Teresa of Avila? Certainly not. But reading hers and other’s insights in this century does cause one to reflect on the intuitive oneness with which they seemed to live and that I in the 21st century—with similar distractions—appear to be constantly struggling to maintain some semblance of equilibrium.
In spite of wars, famines, and other kinds of disruptive forces interfering with harmony in their time; consider the Desert Mothers and Fathers, St. Bonaventure, Jon Duns Scotus, Francis and Clare of Assisi, 11th-13th century sages advice to us. Reside in a realm that transcends the world as it appears. Might they be suggesting that part of life is about ascending to a state where we see the world differently.
If this kind of authority takes a lifetime then I’ve got some work to do because I’ll admit there are days I’ve wondered if my contemplative work is in vain. And while it’s a passing thought, it still arises none the less. Centuries of inhumane acts toward fellow humans and the planet hardly seem to be a passing thing, though. I get the impression that wherever humans exist the tension between power and harmony are formidable forces. Where there are humans with a desire for power and domination, minds filled with superiority, extensions of greed, hatred, and self-loathing—darkness claims a foothold.
The mystics of the past were quite truthfully, ordinary folks who made a choice to live slightly outside the norms of their society—instead dwelling in the center of their being. And proclaiming that there is another domain that perhaps runs parallel and bypasses all the ugliness, where even there a morsel of light is ingrained; we are to harvest our regenerative attitudes by living differently. Seeing and listening with a pure heart. Perhaps the mystics of old—whom we admire and seek to emulate— simply knew how to luxuriate in grace.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, / it is still a beautiful world. / Be cheerful. / Strive to be happy. Max Ehrmann “Desiderata: Words for Life.”
To affirm my sanity and not appear delusional, I’ve spent many hours reflecting on the fact that it doesn’t seem to me that a cheerful attitude created in my small space can make much of a difference. I awaken from my stillness and the madness is swirling everywhere in suffocating clouds, heavy as lead with no apparent possibility of lifting. How does one live in exulted sacredness more often than a couple of hours a day? In other words, being in the world, and not of it (Romans 12:2).
The incessant darkness surely makes one question if God, or any divine source, for that matter, is paying attention. And yet, I know in the deepest part of my soul that the minutest level of inner stability ripples outward and a small percentage of humanity can make a significant shift by holding wholeness, the gate of light open for others. I get that this is a proposition with no turning back and that prayer, contemplation, and art play essential roles in maintaining and living in the presence.
And, for me that is where the concept of grace makes sense as we establish habits of clearing our lens through meaningful practices: embodied movement, prayer, and stillness. Grace happens in that heart-stopping interaction face to face with a deer before she bounds off into the wilderness. Or the kind of sunrise in which the clouds take on a pinkish hue while obscuring the sun. Or on a Sunday morning, when a soul weary cashier looks at you with a smile and tears in her eyes in response to a “You are Beautiful” sticker placed in her hand. Grace is flowing more often than we can possibly imagine in the ordinariness of our lives. We just have to be awake to it. It is really more interesting than the other stuff floating around.
It’s both sobering and humbling observing our evolutionary development individually and collectively and most days I marvel at all the possibilities of where we might be headed: toward goodness and beauty. Grace is always there whether we recognize it or not. We are part of the web interconnected with that the Being of everything else. It is not unimaginable that the suffering we are witnessing around the world is also impacting our bodies and so it behooves us to align with the will of God and consciously apply the wisdom we acquire through our one distinct life, intimately shared with others in the web. Given that thought it is no small task to—
Therefore be at peace with God, / whatever you conceive Him to be, / and whatever your labors and aspirations, / in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. —Max Ehrmann