Grace in Everyday Life

This is my seventh post in a series, where each Monday I will post about a point of reflection or insight that I will use to reflect and meditate on during the week. In order to make it a bit more focused and interesting, I will attempt to do this with topics beginning with letters from A to Z. I have often found that having a specific topic to reflect and/or meditate on during the week really lends itself to interesting insights and growth, because you not only have several days to reflect and meditate on the topic, but you have several days to put any lessons and insights that you discover to work in your every day life. For those that follow me on Twitter (@JasonLivingNow) I will try to write updates as the weekly topics come up during meditations, moments of reflection, or just during everyday life. To view the current and previous entries in this series, please visit the: Reflections and Insights A Through Z section.

My son Jason II, (c) Shelby Hurst Photography 2011

G= Grace in Everyday Life: Grace is a term that I often heard in Sunday School and church services growing up. I would hear people discuss the grace of Jesus, or the grace of God, or how by the grace of Jesus/God we could be saved from our sins. However, I never really understood the concept of grace, until I began undertaking my own spiritual path outside of mainstream Christianity. During my journey, I have come to understand grace as the mysterious power and energy that lies just beyond the veil of our consciousness, which gives energy, order, and direction to the material and spiritual worlds (which is basically the concept of the Tao, in Taoism). I believe grace is the loving energy of the creator, no matter what name you call him/her/it by, and it surrounds each of us at all times. Grace flows like a river through our lives, and shows itself through the beauty of nature, as well as in our intuitions, insights, and the countless miracles that surround each of us in our daily lives, including the miracle of life itself. Most importantly, grace provides us with a pathway between the material and spiritual worlds.

A key to living in the now, is balancing our life with, and tuning into, the grace that surrounds us at all times. Grace is the calm serenity of meditation, the warm fuzzies experienced when we help someone in need, the spine tingling energy of intuitions and insights, and the energy that interconnects each of us.

To me, being a “spiritual person”, no matter what religion or tradition you subscribe to, involves tuning into grace, and living in accord with grace. Since grace is the loving energy of the creator, it directs us to live a positive, compassionate, and loving life. If we choose to ignore or go against grace, our lives will be chaotic and out of balance, which naturally leads to negativity and depression. Grace is a way of life, because it is the energy of life. The great teachers and sages of every religion have embraced grace in their lives, and the spiritual traditions that have risen up in their wakes, direct their followers to live a grace-filled life. Grace motivated the Buddha to seek a path that would allow all sentient beings to be released from suffering (the cycle of samsara), and the cessation of suffering for all sentient beings continues to be the primary goal of Buddhists. Also, Jesus, and later Muhammad, taught their followers to live in grace by practicing acts of love, compassion, and charity, which countless adherents and charitable organizations continue to do.

“Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live” – Jackie Windspear

Practical Tip: During the week during your meditations, quiet time, etc., try to tune into grace by focusing on the vibrational energies that surround each of us. Also, try focusing on the many blessing in your life, and open yourself up to how you can live more fully in grace, and reflect grace out into the world at large.

I would love to see your thoughts and comments on grace, and what you have done to realize, cultivate, and implement grace in your life. If you wish to use the topic of grace as a point of reflection during the week, I would love for you to share any insights that come up.

Please come back next week for the next installment of this series, and as always if you enjoyed what you read, please share on social network sites, subscribe to this site, and share this site with others!

Also please check out my book, “The Path: Using the Religions of the World as a Guide to Personal and Spiritual Development.” (Click on the book cover to view on Amazon.com)