The easiest mantra to know: Life is good."For each new morning with its light
for rest and shelter of the night,
for health and food, for love and friends,
for everything Thy goodness sends."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
That I get to wake up, alive for one more day; That I get to sleep, untroubled; That I get to eat food and drink water, unpolluted; That I get to use all my senses and faculties, unclouded; That I get to have shelter, protected and safe; That I even get to breathe on my own; That I get to laugh and cry and try again; That I get to know how much stronger I really am through crisis; That I get to dream and remember; That I get to be one year older..
That I get to be here with you.
That I get to say Thank You.
And when this life is written,
that I get to die with gratitude for grace begotten.
[113.18] Grace
Defining grace as a word is not the same as experiencing grace as a state. When the state of grace ignites within, one learns so much more from a single moment of existential experience (than from any book or movie or song trying to teach or explain grace.) A state that keeps giving and generating."Amazing Grace" 1779Amazing grace, how sweet the sound... that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found; Was blind, but now I see. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. This grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures; He will my shield and potion be, as long as life endures. Yes, this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, a life of joy and peace. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine, but God who called me here below, will be forever mine. My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me and like a flood His mercy rains unending love, amazing grace.
"A Grace Disguised" Jerry Sittser, 1995
Yet the grief I feel is sweet as well as bitter. I still have a sorrowful soul; yet I wake up every morning joyful, eager for what the new day will bring. Never have I felt as much pain as I have in the last three years; yet never have I experienced as much pleasure in simply being alive and living an ordinary life. Never have I felt so broken; yet never have I been so whole. Never have I been so aware of my weakness and vulnerability; yet never have I been so content and felt so strong. Never has my soul been more dead; yet never has my soul been more alive. What I once considered mutually exclusive, death and life – have become parts of a greater whole. My soul has been stretched."
