Author’s Note: It’s been pretty hectic here around the Faerie Farm with the Holly Days and all, so I’ve pulled up something to share which I originally wrote about 10 years ago. I find it still relevant however, and hope you will too.
Human beings have created a world of artificial divisions and dichotomies. Then, we’ve smugly proclaimed this to be reality as it “really” is. This is a very confusing state of affairs for most humans. We want to divide everything up into this or that, male or female, good or evil, us or them, cause or effect. Then, we make up the fancy second law of thermodynamics to explain why everything is going to hell in a hand basket and there is absolutely nothing at all any of us can do about it. But, that is not the natural order of things and it never has been; it is merely one perception of the world, and a somewhat faulty one for all that.
My definition of Grace is the natural tendency of things in the world to right themselves. You cut your finger and it heals, even without you consciously directing the myriad chemical and biological processes by which each individual cell repairs itself. It just happens, as if by magic. Grace can be exemplified by a puppy snoring in your lap; that is, health and well-being and contentment, the impetus towards burgeoning growth, an unwavering trust in the world, and the unconscious acceptance and assurance that everything really is going to be taken care of.
Amazingly, this occurs whether we worry about things (bills, house payments, health, boyfriends) or not. And, in fact it seems to occur much more readily when we don’t. Grace is the inexplicable way in which good things happen to us, sometimes just when we need them most, often when we think we don’t deserve them. It is your faerie godmother, and it blesses all of us the same.
Grace does not divide, but rather it unites. The natural world operates much more by cooperation than by competition, Darwin notwithstanding, Goddess love him. All things have a natural tendency toward rightness, toward cooperation, toward healing, connectedness, order, creation, and well-being. This is Grace. It doesn’t have to be bought, won, believed in, deserved, or undeserved. You cannot fall from it, lose it, forfeit it, sell it, give it away, or have it taken from you. It just is.
Grace is not about whether we are worthy or unworthy. Grace is certainly not proprietary to one religion or another. It is the natural heritage of the universe; Grace is ours by birthright, and it is why our lives are charmed. We don’t have to do anything for it, we don’t have to believe in this or that religion or god to obtain it; Grace freely exists and emanates from the core of our being – from all being. Grace is a flower, stretching from its seed in the earth towards the bright and glorious light and life of the Sun. And it does this all by itself.
May the Grace of the World be with you in the coming New Year, and beyond.
Patheos Pagan on Facebook.
the Agora on Facebook
Book of Blackbirds is published occasionally on the Agora. Subscribe via RSS or e-mail!
Please use the links to the right to keep on top of activities here on the Agora as well as across the entire Patheos Pagan channel.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In