Every Friday a group of Writers gather for Five Minute Friday at LisaJoBaker.com. I still don't know how I found this group, but somehow... I did and here I am.
There aren't many rules... and I like that... but here they are:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back at LisaJoBaker.com and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you
need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them
in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And
the heart of this community..
Oh and Ahem, if you would take pity and turn off comment verification, it would make leaving some love on your post that much easier for folks!
OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::
Graceful…
I had a falling out recently with someone I love. Other people call it things like, “Are you crazy? Why are you still talking to him?” and “Just let him go…” but in my future conversations with myself when looking at my options I found myself having incredibly deep theological reflections.
This man has never been forgiven unconditionally.
He has never experienced grace given, undeservedly so,
perhaps. He had never been offered the sweet water of graceful compassion.
I remembered, “People make mistakes. Other people can turn their backs or they can do as Jesus did. Offer the gift of grace, even for the 'unforgiveable' actions.”
So that is what I am working to do. Continually.
I haven’t told you yet, but this man is a self professed atheist so it makes the situation even trickier. We have been having intellectual theological discussions, though, today about poet Rainer Rilke and Russian novelist Dostoevsky, and it is something.
Perhaps it is the nourishing rain coming from the grace I offer him.
It isn’t easy to forgive, I have found.
It is much easier to turn and run.
Forgiveness takes practice, it takes a lot of surrendering, it takes letting go on some levels that just cut me to the quick. It means shutting up sometimes. It means knowing when enough is enough.
It means staying graceful in both words and actions.
It means offering graceful opportunities for reconciliation.
It means explaining what my tears mean and how they are different from what his tears mean.
Being graceful in all of this has been among the best spiritual disciplines I have taken upon myself. I have practiced such practical, heartfelt Christianity on such a one-on-one level.
I have missed church for the last year. I recently heard something else my congregation did that flies in the face of the grace of Jesus Christ. I was invited to a different church on Sunday. I am going.
I figure it’s a divine appointment and maybe, someday, my atheist friend may join me.
And maybe not. For now, forgiveness and graceful love are what are most important.
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Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield.
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