Grace

‘There but for the grace of God go I.’

Have you ever said that to yourself? Or thought it? Maybe you deny the metaphysical, the mystical, the celestial, and have no concept of grace; so you say to yourself instead, simply, ‘That could be me.’

Yes, that could be you, and might have been you, had it been all about you. But it is not all about you, not about that feeble power within you to endure all that comes your way, however strong you fancy yourself to be.

It is instead that power that originates outside of you, that power greater than self, surpassing any strength, any determination, any tenacity you might ever possess on your own; that destiny, that sanctity, call it what you will, but give it a name other than your own; that power outside of you, empowering you, that ensures that you prevail.

There is no sin without guilt; no guilt without shame; no shame without fear; no fear without dishonour. No dishonour in being merely human, wayward, immoral, mortal. Grace is not atonement, the expiation of sin. It is rather the mercy of destiny, the blessing of the universal, the eternal, that bestows the will and the power to survive another gauntlet, to stand again on your own, to move again with courage and hope, to overcome any urge to concede defeat. 

‘There but for the grace of Good go I.’