This last week I have had the blessing of being with the wonderful folks of St. Michael and All Angels in Sanibel. As a reminder, the world drastically changed on September 28th, 2022, when Hurricane Ian decimated this tropical paradise and ecological sanctuary. Lives, homes, businesses, and nature…all devastated.
Yet as the Phoenix rises from the ashes Sanibel, like an early spring crocus, is showing promising signs of new life. I was inspired by this community prior to the hurricane, I was amazed at their fortitude in its immediate aftermath, and I am now amazed at their capacity for hopefulness.
Walking with them in the journey of grief, grace and gratitude has truly been transformative. Each step of the way they have faithfully embraced the space they have found themselves in.
Grief – times of loss, trauma and challenges are inevitable both individually and corporately.
Grace – it is often in those moments of grief, particularly the ones that take us to the edge, that we experience grace. Author Ann La Mott writes, “I do not understand the mystery of Grace…only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.” And theologian Richard Rohr offers this, “Grace cannot be understood by any ledger of merits and demerits. It cannot be held to patterns of buying, losing, earning, achieving, or manipulating, which is unfortunately where most of us live our lives. Grace is quite literally ‘for the taking.’ It is God eternally giving away God—for nothing, except the giving itself. I believe grace is the life energy that makes flowers bloom, animals lovingly raise their young, babies smile, and planets remain in their orbits—for no good reason whatsoever except love alone.”
Gratitude – “Grace begets gratitude, which, in turn, widens our hearts toward greater goodness and love.”
As author Diana Butler Bass so well articulates, once you have experienced grace there is a natural response of gratitude for the blessings received.
When we are open to the possibility that the challenging place where we find ourselves is not the last stop on the journey then grace begins to enter our world. From here there are two consistent responses to grace: gratitude and a desire to respond to others with grace. And once we have experienced the transformative movement of grief – grace – gratitude in our lives the more it becomes central to how we navigate the journey.
BP