The meaning of grace, in the spiritual world, is "understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to people – 'generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved' – that takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God. It is an attribute of God that is most manifest in the salvation of sinners." In short, it means that your faults have been overlooked, and you have been given a pass to live blamelessly for a moment or two. I love that.
I have been a recipient of grace so many times, it's embarrassing. I think the most significant time was in 2007, when an aneurysm burst in my brain. According to my medical caregivers, 60% of people who had what I had didn't even make it to the hospital. Another 20% lived with deficits to walking, talking, and thinking. The last 20% survived with no deficits at all. I was one of those in the last group. That humbles me. I was airlifted to a hospital in another city before anyone at home even knew I was sick. Prayers didn't even have a chance to be lifted for me before it became obvious that I was going to be okay...as we say, by the Grace of God.
None of the nasty things that have happened to me have been devoid of grace. Car battery dead? Neighbors to the rescue! Fender bender when I didn't have car insurance? Cop let me and my car go with a warning that he wouldn't be so generous next time. (I got insurance that very day and never let it lapse thereafter.) Lost my wallet? It got turned in...more than once.
This one is actually somewhat embarrassing. I needed a new roof and my newly-selected insurance company wasn't going to cover my home until/unless I did something about it. I was looking at bids for replacement or moss removal. Got some bids. Accepted one, then went to the bank to float a $5k loan. When the first payment was due, I logged onto my bank's website to discover that no payment was due. Surely there was a mistake! I called to inquire what the snafu was and was told, in so many words, that the entire loan had been paid by an anonymous donor. I was stunned. My daughter and sister claimed they weren't the benefactors. I inquired of a few others, only to be denied a definitive answer. I was so blessed! I don't know how or why. I only know that it was a gift I would never be able to repay. To this day, I don't know how my secret benefactor knew where I banked, or even that I had taken out a loan. God works in mysterious ways! I have my suspicions but have no proof. My bank has kept his/her secret. From that moment on, I have done my level best to give back grace, just because some anonymous someone once gave me a gift that humbled me.
When I was visiting my sister and her new-ish husband over the holidays, he had a mild stroke, but came home from the hospital quickly and unscathed. By God's grace. We were all praying like crazy, but only after we knew he was in trouble. That's how I knew that the Hand of the Almighty was involved in his healing.
My daughter was having heart PVCs--Premature Ventricular Contractions--to the tune of 65,000 per day. She finally underwent a cardiac ablation procedure, as an outpatient, that put her heartbeats back to normal--and stayed that way. Yeah...okay...so the cardiologist did the procedure, but Grace made it all work. You can't convince me otherwise. Of course, my daughter and grandchildren have halos....
I think Grace is likely an immediate thing. As you fall off your bike as a kid, Grace determines if you get permanently hurt or not. So, what if you DO get seriously hurt? Does that mean the Power of the Universe finds you unworthy. I think not. So...does Grace show partiality from God? No. Karma? No. Coincidence? Luck? Serendipity? No. When you think about it in ethereal terms, God has created a world that was designed to run itself. Plants propagate, human parts heal, animals provide. There is a plan, but we don't know what it is! We are flying blind, but the Universe knows if we are still needed or not. It isn't cruel; it's just the way things work. We can't control it, but we can be grateful when we are the recipients of Grace.
I'm just figuring some of these things out!
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