leaking grace

 

When you looked at me

your eyes imprinted your grace in me;

for this you loved me ardently;

and thus my eyes deserved

to adore what they beheld in you. . . .

Let us go forth to behold ourselves in your beauty.

                     John of the Cross, “The Spiritual Canticle,” stanzas 32, 36

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what is grace

other than the Beloved

looking on us with eyes of love?

 

What is grace

other than the Beloved

loving us so deeply that we are given Love

permeated with the Sacred

 

the Beloved giving us a piece of

the Sacred

call it Spirit

call it love

a piece of himself/herself

 

so that we participate

in all that is peace

all that is hope

all that is joy

all that is love

 

and thus connected

an so filled

we are reconciled and transformed

 

new creations!

Sacred children

 

what is grace

other than we children of grace

flawed vessels that we are

cracked pots

 

leaking grace

 

looking on others the way the Beloved looks at us?

seeing in them not just a little piece of the divine

but also a little piece of ourselves

 

for we all participate

that “single, bigger Gazing and Loving”

(Richard Rohr, Daily Meditations, 4/11/21)

 

that some call God

 

we all are joined together

by the bond of Sacred Presence

that inner dwelling

 

so that Sacred is in me

and Sacred is in you

and thus I am part of you

and you are part of me

 

what is grace

other than realizing we all participate

in the same love

unearned and freely giving

 

all participate in the same

acceptance

 

the same welcome

 

that we are indeed One in the Spirit

and that we have no other choice

but to love our neighbor

 

no matter who that neighbor is

no matter what that neighbor has done

no matter their color, culture

creed, sexual orientation

or ideology

 

we have no choice

but to love them as ourselves

passing on

humbly, through (in many cases) our weakness

 

(remember, grace is most often leaked)

 

the acceptance and welcome

we have received

 

___________________________________

 

It only takes a spark

To get a fire going

And soon all those around

Can warm up in its glowing

That's how it is with God's love

Once you've experienced it

You spread that love to ev'ryone

You want to pass it on