Grace

Events taking place over the past week started me thinking about grace.
There is a family tradition in our house to start each meal with a short prayer of thanks. This becomes a sung version when the grandchildren visit, where the children encourage us to hold hands as we sing. When I was growing up this activity was referred to as saying grace before meals.
I was at a recent civic event, where the only person with a dog collar on was called upon – at very short notice I might add – to pronounce Grace before we sat down and ate together. During the table conversations afterwards a number of my companions expressed surprise that “things like this still happen” - not in a confrontational manner, but rather by way of observing what one person described as witnessing “a blast from the past”. It proved to be a talking point to discuss the idea of grace and generosity. All involved in the conversation agreed that the place we call home could benefit from an outbreak of grace and generosity – some even making suggestions about what this might look like in practice. All suggestions were focused on what “they might do” to make things better. Not surprisingly, politicians and the church leaders came in for a fair degree of criticism for being perceived as coming across as grace-less in the public square.
No one made suggestions about what they might do.
During the chat, I mentioned my involvement in a movement called “one small step” where those involved attempted to create moments of grace and generosity in local communities by taking one small step for peace. The journey often began with people reading a newspaper or news outlet which offered a contrary editorial view to that which they normally followed. Some attended a church or religious building which wasn’t from their own tradition, while others talked to someone from another cultural background to learn more of that culture. Following a period of self reflection, many individuals took further small steps – often requiring courage and involving those people in taking risks for peace.
Many steps were grace-filled, where individuals felt moved to apologise to someone of another tradition for contributing to their feeling of alienation. Such acts of grace are often experienced as a gift of generosity by those who receive them. They can be liberating, they can contribute to community healing and help to lay foundations for a truly shared future – surely preferable to what now is a shared out future.
Yesterday I experienced such generosity when a colleague rang me to say how much they appreciated something I did. It was unexpected but in receiving this gift of generosity, I was encouraged to pass it on to others. Grace is infectious. So, what is the small act of generosity you will offer as a gift to someone today?