“But for the Grace of God go I” 2019
Walking the way we talk. When we espouse one thing but act in a contrary manner not only does it make us look untrustworthy but also opens the door to all manner of spiritual disease and unease coupled with a corresponding disconnect from truth. Wishing to be happy but seeding unhappiness, wanting to be loved but unwilling to demonstrate love, demanding respect while being disrespectful, holding truth and fairness as essential while speaking falsely and treating others unfairly, in a manner we would not tolerate, are all examples of spiritual disease, a demonstration in conflict with our stated intention. These are gross examples, readily identifiable and addressed if we truly wish to change.
But what of the subtler forms: condescension and self-aggrandizement couched in seemingly “well-intended” but not fully considered verbal asides, comments and actions. One of which, which I found particularly painful since I had used it often was “But for the grace of God go I.” The phrase always made me a little uneasy, though for years I could not suss out why. When the truth finally hit, I became physically ill and spiritually unsettled. Consider the full import of the phrase: it implies that God withdraws or withholds Divine Grace from some unlucky souls! And fortunately, I’m not one of them! Really? That some are “chosen” in some way, greater in God’s sight than another? Or, being flawed, prone to error in thought in deed, especially when fearful, we could err so egregiously that we are “cast” aside? If God is the embodiment of Love and we are all children of the Miraculous, Grace freely given because of this love and intimate connection, how could that be possible? I wrestled with this for a time, looking for a loophole to crawl through, but they all ended in the same place: base condescension and the spiritually corrosive “holier than thou” sensibility.
Wayne Dyer suggested in all things we “think from the end.” Applying this concept here I now understand that no one stands above another Spiritually, and though each of us will reap the harvest from the seeds we have sown, for good or ill, Grace is a gift that cannot be earned or lost and to believe that in anyway anyone is beyond Grace or has lost it, we then set ourselves up for a life of disharmony at odds with the truth of being.
“For we are human, weak and prone to wrong, and by Thy Grace alone are we made strong.”
Henry Coyle
Miracles Of Recovery
© Vincent Lee Jones All Rights Reserved
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