"Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds"
Elie Wiesel
Our black lab is a runner. Always has been, always will be. Ever since we adopted her, we have been in the practice of giving her a milk bone when she comes inside upon voice command. We want her to be in the habit of coming inside for a treat should she ever accidentally get outside.
One of our former cats would wonder why every time the dog would come inside, she would receive a treat. Before long, when the dog came in for her milk bone, the cat would start to beg. Having a soft heart, I gave the cat a treat every time I rewarded the dog.
One day our oldest daughter was over and saw me give the dual treats. Immediately she challenged me. “Dad, I understand why the dog gets a treat, but why the cat? He has done nothing to deserve any reward.” She was right. The dog received a treat based on merit, and the cat received a treat based solely on grace. Before long, we started calling the cat treats “grace bits”.
For those in the Christian faith, grace is no more than showing others a fraction of the grace that God shows us. Why only a fraction? It is impossible to match the unlimited grace we are given daily. For those not in the faith, grace can still be shown. Many times it is referred to as "cutting slack", "letting it pass" or something similar. The bottom line is this - of all the things we can do to or for our fellow man, grace is one of the most noble.
I remember when I was working at a church of a different denomination than mine. The Senior Pastor of this church would constantly deride the church I came from. Not just a little, but a lot. One day when I was off, I visited the pastor in my home church. I told him of some of the terrible things the other pastor said about our church. Expecting anger from my pastor, I received this instead - "Every day when you walk into that church, bring in two cups of grace rather than one. If that is not enough, the next day bring in three". Sage advice from a very wise man.
Showing grace is showing kindness where none is due. It is forgiving when forgiveness is hard or unwanted. It is turning the other cheek or walking away when all the instincts say to fight. From human terms, grace makes no sense. From spiritual terms, it makes all the sense in the world.
Every year I try to up my grace quotient one more notch. This year I have decided to expand the grace I show others by doing at lease one of the following each day, every day:
I will try to follow this throughout the year. However, any day that I fall short, I will also give myself grace. Sometimes that is the cup of grace which runs out the quickest.
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