Amazing Grace

 If my devils are to leave me, I am afraid my angels will take flight as well. 

Rilke.

 

A ruthless, profit hungry captain sails slaves from Africa to the New World. One day while staring into the endless blue sea he hears music; he felt free of his guilt and all his earthly burdens. He experienced Grace and wrote down his song: 

 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind but now I see.

(John Newton)

 

How can something as beautiful as ‘Amazing Grace’ be born out of something as ugly as slavery? How can a God of Love allow a lion to eat the defenseless gazelle? The answer lies in Oneness. The union transcends slayer and slain, ruler and oppressed. This Oneness can be found, even by a wretch as John Newton, as he described himself.

 

Rilke left therapy when he feared that his conscious insights would mess with his poetry. It’s our choice on which level of Consciousness we like to operate in. Everyone can experience the transcending Oneness in all of life’s occurrences, but the invite is to live a life that surpasses the ugliness. Spiritual living is the ‘how to’ in finding Grace.

 

Spiritual living is the ability to find the God of Love in our messy life. It’s the ability to make friends with our demons, understand where they are coming from and see them deflate.Trouble with your partner? What demon does he represent? Trouble at work? Are you in the right industry? John Newton became a minister. He had outgrown slavery.

 

The God of Love is always right where we are, inviting us to join in. When I meet folks who ask me about life’s purpose I always shrug my shoulders. It’s up to you to find Grace, that’s why you were thrown into this messy life of apparent good and evil. ‘Show is how it is done,’ I always add. I have found Grace and know you will too.

 

Take a good look around and find Amazing Grace today!