Grace is Sufficient

Sometimes, messages come to you in the most unexpected ways...

Sometimes, you ignore the message the first time, and it keeps coming back to you again and again - a second, and a third, and maybe a fourth time...

Yesterday was one of those days filled with unacknowledged or partially understood messages, and this morning seemed merely a continuation and extension of those lessons...

Yesterday, as I waited in the doctor's office for a routine check up, I read a sermon written by Barbara Brown Taylor, from her book, Home by Another Way. Since we are partly into Holy Week, nearing the conclusion of Lent, I am choosing to read material that is relevant to the liturgical season, or is, at very least, spiritual in nature.

The section I read in Taylor's book was based on a passage from St Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, where he described a particularly challenging experience in his life, without actually identifying what it was. He describes it as "a thorn in the flesh," a source of deep torment to him, which I would add, could be just as equally experienced in the soul...

When Paul appeals to God, he is simply told:

"My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness."

I glossed over all of this, as I was awaiting my appointment, and did not give it another thought...

When I returned home, an intuitive friend spontaneously called and invited me out to lunch, and during the course of the meal, she addressed an area of my life and a significant relationship which is both the source of my greatest joy, my deepest lessons, and my greatest sadness...

Ironically, in my own meditations, I have been asking to be released of the pain that still runs deep concerning events long past, and slights perceived in the present. But my friend suggested that I consider looking deeply into matters in my heart and soul, and not deny the importance and significance of the deep connection that exists on a higher plane. She told me I should not deny my own insights, or discount what I intuit and "know" on another level.

After I came home, I wondered why this had come up - so unexpectedly. It seemed to churn things inside for me. So I gave intent to receive whatever insights or messages I still needed to know, in my midnight meditation before retiring...

This morning, one of my dearest students and treasured friends, brought up the same exact passage from Corinthians in the course of our yoga practice, while we worked on creating a greater opening by releasing the piriformis muscle. As soon as she brought up this verse, I perked up, and realized I needed to go back to this passage once again, and re-read it. I knew there would be answers for me there...

A little while later in the morning, I sat down to write and I come across this quote by Rumi:

"Give up to Grace.
The ocean takes care of each wave
Until it returns to the shore."

Had I received the message I needed to hear yet? Well apparently not...

Then, moments later, as I was browsing Facebook, I read an entry, titled, "My Journey into Grace," on the blog , "The Awakened Life", and I was momentarily paralyzed. It was a description of a life-altering experience, occurring in 2007, that mirrored my own in so many ways. The author credits Anusara Yoga with helping her awaken, for it is a practice that begins from the vantage point of opening to grace...

In spite of challenges, deep-seated grief, and of obstacles that may seem insurmountable, grace is sufficient. We are never alone, grace provides and takes care of us - and the source of our greatest pain is often the doorway to our embodiment of ultimate freedom.

Grace is everywhere, and I am in awe because the answers sought in my meditation came several times, until I was ready to listen. Thanks to all who came bearing gifts by pointing me in the right direction, for truly,

Grace alone is sufficient...