Agendas. We’ve all got one, maybe even two. They are what give our life meaning, purpose, the drive to get out of bed every morning. Mine: To live grace thoroughly.
Now to some people that may seem like an easy thing to do. Looks are deceiving.
Consider: When was the last time that you were able to let people just be who they are?
Allow me to illustrate this from a couple of recent examples in my life. The other day I was completing my weekly task of grocery shopping. As I entered the store there was a rumbling running throughout the place centered upon a haggard looking mother and her four children. She was pushing a cart filled with more children then groceries, each whose mission it seemed to torment the other in more incessant ways. One of the children, a young girl, would scream every few minutes for no apparent reason other than to hear her shrill voice reverberate from the rafters. The other customers, myself included, obviously agitated by the ruckus, gave this family a wide berth through their meandering. Eventually, I became the sole person left in the presence of this unruly crowd in the back corner of the store. It was here that the peals of screams, were joined by the guttural shouts of a young boy crammed into the cart.
Shift now to the day prior. My wife, daughter and I were out to eat lunch at a new restaurant in town. After waiting almost an hour to be seated (yes, the line was that long), our server came and took our order. First appearances, particularly in the food service industry are critical. He was adorned with the standard company uniform, yet no one had apparently explained to him the importance of the “first twelve” rule – the first twelve inches your customer sees (your head), and the first twelve words you say. This young man who sported a trim hair-cut also donned a trim man-bun only it wasn’t a bun more than a spurt of hair waiting for the day it would graduate into a bun. Additionally, his lazy eye expression and speech made you wonder if someone really was at home in the shell before you. We took our time in conveying our order so not to confound him, if you catch my drift. During the meal, he dutifully returned to make assurance that our meal was satisfactory, which I expected. However, there were two instances when he did this right at the beginning of the meal. The second time was about three minutes after the prior event and from all appearances, it was as if he completely forgot that he had just been there.
Okay, these might seem like trivial matters, and honestly, they are, unless you’re trying to live grace. To bring a sense of context to these stories consider that at one time in my life I would not have put up with any of these things. I would have complained about the woman’s inability to control her children in a public place. I would have stressed my displeasure to the manager about how, after spending so long waiting for a seat, I’m bothered by a waiter who didn’t understand the craft of waiting.
Living grace breeds quiet trust. It lets people be who they are, warts and all. We’re all a hot mess at one time or another throughout the day. Some people catch us at our best, more often when we’re not. People, you and I, do the best with what we have and who we are in any given moment. When we expect results that our moments aren’t able to attain, stress is the internal achievement to an outward process gone haywire.
Yet, living in grace, there is a peace within that doesn’t need to be expressive. It brings an assurance that all truly is well regardless of the conditions swirling about you. When you operate from this platform, it causes others to experience it also. This is the reciprocity of grace I’ve spoken about previously.
Life is full of strange habits. We like to keep people from invading our preconceived expectations of them through rules and values we have created. Rules that say this is how you should act, what you should be in any given situation or even become to experience life with us. Rules are an agenda. You have one, just as I do. Mine might seem simple. Living grace breeds quiet trust. The acronym says it all. LGBQT. How do you live grace?
You must be logged in to post a comment.