Grace Enough

When I was young, no one told me that the hardest things I would face were discouragement and failure. They never said that poor choices, missed opportunities and human tragedies would nearly immobilize my zeal, my purpose for living.

You've been sitting there
While time flies by
In a corner of despair
With a hundred questions why

Just like the inquisitive preschooler I have questioned my Creator, "Why?" Honestly I have been intimidated by God's 
rank and power in my life when placing these inquiries.  But as time went on and my difficulties felt so immeasurable, 
my questions became our conversation. Through the eyes of the casual observer, our conversation may have appeared 
to be one-sided with me doing all the talking. And so it seemed. However in the communion between us, Father and child, 
our words are real.  God has taught me that conversation equals relationship and relationship is maintained through grace.

You think you've fallen too deep
For anyone to reach your soul

Beyond my own pain lies the pain that I feel for my friends, neighbors and community.  From an urgent helplessness, 
I am beginning to learn to listen, to speak only in necessity much like the model mirrored by my Creator.  
In her title, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future (2002), author Margaret 
Wheatley talks about the strength of the human conversation. Wheatley stated that she wrote this book prior to 
September 11th before the "world turned even darker."  The book and companion web site are filled with examples of how  
"Conversation is the natural way we humans think together."  

One of my favorite examples includes the story of a young, black South Africa woman who found her grandparents 
slaughtered in their home village. Sharing her story in a support group, listeners struggled with the horrific details, 
offering advice and assistance.  Finally, the young woman spoke to the collective display of compassion. 
"I don't need you to fix me.  I just need you to listen to me," she said.

Wheatley continues, "It is impossible to create a healthy culture if we refuse to meet, and if we refuse to listen.  
But if we meet, and when we listen, we reweave the world into wholeness."  
In my most recent lesson about the grace of God, I have learned to embrace Wheatley's thesis and the words of my 
creator.   Matthew 18:20 tells me that "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."  
From isolation, I have rediscovered the healing grace of conversation. There is something almost mystical, always 
therapeutic about conversation.  Even the one-sided conversation permits the speaker to explore the problem in 
different ways unlocking internal information, resources and solutions.  

"Let me tell you 
There's grace enough,
There's faith enough for you
There's an ocean of mercy..."

This spirited chorus provides me a celebration of great potential as I revisit the value of forgiveness, restoration 
through the gifts of conversation and grace.  As the tune reminds me of transition, the song tracks personal growth 
without all the painful details. At my age, I stand with wonderment that life, my life is still full of "do-overs" and 
teaching experiences.  Sadly some will be more public than others with victories marked by simple actions like showing 
up. In spite of how miserable the failure or tragic the loss, I have found "grace enough" to live beyond the disappointment 
to thrive again.