Welcome to Grace Minutes

I read a poem many years ago by Helen Steiner Rice that was called Moments of Awareness. It was a small gift book and although I can't really remember all of the poem, the idea has stuck with me all these years about how we have moments where we are overwhelmingly aware of God, a bigger world, a sense of peace, or a sense of contentment.    For just a few moments we seem happy or at least satisfied that where we are is an OK place to be.  It doesn't mean there are no problems or concerns.  It may mean that this moment is especially tender because of an awareness of God's presence and nearness.  It may mean that this moment is endurable because our perspective has been changed somehow.

I remember that poem off and on when I have moments of the realization of God's grace in the midst of my day and my life or the lives of those around me.   That's why I think if them as Grace Minutes - moments where I am aware in some way of God's grace for the current moment.

These moments have also been described in the Celtic tradition as Thin Places.   Thin Places are moments in life when we are aware that the separation between heaven and earth is very thin and we have a sense that that we can almost touch heaven from where we are standing both physically and in our hearts. We know God is near.

Most of us struggle to figure out why these are just minutes and why we can't accumulate these minutes and spend our lives in happy ever after perspectives.  Why does it seem elusive? God doesn't seem to want to be elusive to us.  Why do we forget He is near?  Why are there times when we don't sense the grace of His presence nearby?  It is a fallen and broken world we live in, but it is a world that God created and leads us through for our good, His purpose and His glory.  He is always near and always present.  We can know that to be true of His nature all the time because we know Him by His word that tells us that.  But we live in a fallen world of imperfection and are not capable of that constant awareness, so we relish the moments and in that process we experience more and more moments as we draw closer to Him.

Since God is always near, it would seem we should always be looking for Him in every moment and circumstance.  My constant question has become 'Where is grace in this picture?' and 'What does grace look like here?'   I can't often see grace but I do want to always look for it.  This is not a settling for finding some good in everything.  Although I wish sometimes I was like Pollyanna and saw good in everything and everyone, I know there is not good in all things or unfortunately not in everyone.   This looking is an intentional and joyful search to know God more in every area of my life and my surroundings.  Sometimes I find myself looking for what I missed in a situation that is past and sometimes I am looking for what it is I should be doing in a current situation to choose grace and receive it. 

I hope you will share your own moments of awareness and grace along the way.