I can feel it when I’m open, present, and engaged. It’s a lightness of being- an ease of action. When it has “touched” me, I feel as though I’ve entered into the unknown on the path toward my own destiny. It is something that begins and resides deep inside, which can’t help but blossom to affect relationships with the outside world.

This feeling is Grace.

“Sometimes grace manifests itself as synchronicity -its energy brings together people or events in a soothing, helpful, or dramatic way when one most needs it and least expects it. At other times grace is the energy that suddenly illuminates us with understanding, allowing us to see what we had not been able to grasp before. Grace can also lift us into an altered state of consciousness, suffused by an unfamiliar energy – an indescribable combination of love, hope and fearlessness.”

The word grace entered the English language through the Latin word “Gratia”. In the ancient dialect, gratia conveyed a sense of fervor, esteem, and regard. It also carried a message of pleasing qualities and good will. A form of the word is still used in Italian and Spanish as a reflection of these qualities. To thank and express gratitude in these languages one says “grazie” or “gracias’ respectively.

From the “formal” Christian point of view, Grace is a virtue that comes from God. It is the “unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification”. But its roots run deeper than this tradition, and in fact, the energy and message of the word can be found in ALL traditions.

For example, in Greek mythology, the three sister goddesses “The Graces” were believed to endow artists and poets with the ability to create beautiful works of art. The daughters of the god Zeus and the nymph Eurynome, they were named Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer). The Graces presided over banquets, dances, and all other pleasurable social events, and brought joy and goodwill to both gods and mortals. They were the special attendants of the divinities of love.

There are many stories like this in both eastern and western mythology to explain and articulate the feeling of being “graced”. But, when we look deeper into the mythos, be it Greek, Native American, Norse etcetera, it is important to understand that the message of the myths speak to a larger truth.  When we understand that the gods and heroes of these stories really serve as metaphors for our own connection with the energies at work, the myths are able to awaken us to our own potentials and experiences.

To me grace activates from the affirmation of life. Saying YES to the joyful participation in the sufferings of the world. When one has found a connection with grace, it is a reflection of that person’s recognition and full engagement with his/her own potentials.

A full participation with life.