"For grace to be grace, it must give us things we didn't know we needed, and take us to places where we didn't want to go." --Kathleen Norris
I've been reading Norris's Acedia and Me for a few months in between other other things, and this quote keeps coming back to me. One of the things that God's Grace has given me in the past four years is the clear awareness of not being able to be in control of my life. Little by little, what control I thought I had has been nudged away gently, or not-so-gently at times. It hits me hardest when I see my children struggling, and I may not interfere. There is a pain in those situations, yet the grace was abundant as needed...if I would receive it. The blessing has been to see them finding their own need to lean on God's Grace for themselves.
Grace took me to an employment situation this year that, much as I had longed for the position, became a place of intense, painful personal growth. There is no way I would have chosen to go there had I better known what lay ahead. Yet, knowing what I have gained this year, I would not change a thing of this past year unless it were that I should not have been so overly adamant and immovable for as long as I was.
The next event toward which Grace is moving me is my daughter's wedding next month. I am working on finishing her wedding gown which has become a contemplative prayer in and of itself. Maternal yearnings attached to each stitch and flower remind me that she is a precious gift of Grace which I never imagined I needed until she came into our lives.
Grace will be there the day after the wedding, too.
Susan Price
4 comments:
Susan, thank you for your thoughts! My job for the past couple of years has also been one of those grace opportunities. What you've said is so true. May God bless you with peace during this new time of transition.
Susan, Thanks so much for your reflection. I loved the quote, and I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for days to come. Knowing Sarah personally made me smile when you said she is a "precious gift." I can tell how true that is, so I add my amen to Daniel's prayer for your "peace during this new time of transition."
Blessings--Anna
Great quote! And lovely, meaningful reflection. Thank you for investing in sharing, Susan. Thomas Keating has said that Centering Prayer is practice in "letting go." On my retreat last month the facilitators led us in another practice of letting go. This sentence was part of the method: "I let go of the desire for security, affection, and control." God is still working that into me. Your sharing helps.
--Rickey
Hello Susan,
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this quote and your thoughts; my heart is very much encouraged by this as it hurts right now. How true it is that we end up where we don't want to go, and how wonderful it is that Grace gives us what we don't know we need. How could I know what I need when I don't know where I'm going? So thank you, and blessings on your family as Sarah is married!
Jen
Post a Comment