The Grace of Understanding

Photo: (c) 2018 Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas

Walking along the shore a few weeks ago, I thought about how life can be like the ocean. We see what is on top, but rarely do we see what is going on underneath. 

As we begin the third week of our journey into the many aspects of Grace, I recall the first time I realized that humans are capable of stepping out of a situation and looking at it from the outside, in.  I was young, and the situation involved adults who were talking in low voices, as adults do when they don't want children to hear. 

Fifty odd years later, I can't tell you what was said, but I do remember seeing the situation in my mind as if I was, what they call in literature, an "omniscient observer." Later that day, I spoke to my mother, telling her why I thought my mother's friend was upset. I theorized that there was great sadness in her life and that she wasn't dealing with it well. 

Of course, my mother was rather shocked to hear this coming from me, especially since she knew I didn't know the particulars of the situation. I am eternally grateful that she never dismissed my off-the-wall comments or observations. Rather, she would ask me about my process in coming to such conclusions and would assure me that, for our family, this was normal, but that other people would not understand. 

How interesting to be doing this series and find that what I had experienced at that time has a name - the Grace of Understanding. 

This Grace enable us to read between the lines. I think that mystic, medical intuitive and author, Caroline Myss explains it best when she wrote: "The grace of Understanding...grants us the capacity to transcend matters transpiring at the personal level. This grace opens our capacity to see beyond the illusion of a circumstance and understand the deeper truth of what is really taking place."

When we can see and understand what lies beneath the surface, we are able to forgive, heal, learn, nurture and grow.

In The Shaking of Foundations, Paul Tillich writes, "We experience the grace of understanding each other's words. We understand not merely the literal meaning of the words, but also that which lies behind them, even when they are harsh or angry. For even then there is a longing to break through the walls of separation."

The Grace of Understanding come to us when we open our hearts and minds to the possibilities of Life, rather than our own ego. This aspect of Grace allows us to hope, to forgive, to dream and to move forward. 

May the Grace of Understanding fill our hearts and minds, strengthening us all so that we might be open to joyous possibilities.