Grace
You don’t deserve this post, but it’s coming at you anyway.
The lyric goes:
“It travels outside of karma, karma/
It travels outside of karma
A few years ago, I studied with a Buddhist monk and abbott who was then called Heiwa No Bushi. He’s still around. After some time of study, we met in a field on the edges of the Wild Goose Festival in Western North Carolina and he gave me a name signifying my student-hood. The name he gave me: bodhi karma. Literally, that’s something like Buddha-karma, where “bodhi” is the name of the tree the Buddha sat under when he achieved Enlightenment and “karma” is what it has come to mean: the sum of a person's actions that become the reality of the person’s consequences. Bushi never told me directly why he selected karma as the second of the names (all his students receive the bodhi moniker as part of his Bodhi Christo work). But he knew my story. And part of that story was that, when I met him, and for a long time after, I was smack in the middle of all those consequences. And we knew together that the way out of those things was to plant new seeds that would bear new fruit. This is karma, too.
Grace is unconcerned with karma. It is the great interrupter. It is a great mystery. It is disturbing. Unsettling. And so that is why my sometime name, Bodhi Karma, has its limits.
Grace is more and more controversial these days, perhaps for good reason. “Grace” can be cheaply given out, allowing the privileged or the proud to skip the consequences of their actions and access the golden parachute of meaningless forgiveness. Maybe.
Or maybe Grace is always controversial.
In Advent, Grace is the patient hope of Mary and the provocative call of John the Baptist. It is the persistent insistence on a coming arrival when everything looks like it is ending. Grace is the drawing near of the undeserved for the undeserving.
It travels outside of karma. It walks on the streets, singing. It carries the world on her hips, like a child, looking for goodness.
Meditation
Find a quiet place, perhaps with 'Grace' by U2 playing softly in the background. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let the music wash over you. Focus on the lyrics, how they speak of grace as a presence that changes the nature of everything it touches. Visualize grace as a gentle but powerful force, transforming challenges into opportunities, and sorrow into joy.
As you meditate, reflect on moments in your life where grace has played a transformative role. Imagine grace as a soothing melody that accompanies you through life's ups and downs, always there, subtly changing the rhythm of your experiences, making life a more beautiful and profound journey.
Examen
Recall a recent instance where you felt grace in your life. How did it manifest, and what impact did it have on your perspective or situation?
Consider moments when extending grace to others could have altered the outcome of a situation. How can you be more conscious of offering grace in your daily interactions?
Reflect on how the melody of U2's 'Grace' makes you feel. What emotions or thoughts does it evoke, and how does this relate to your understanding of grace in your own life?
As you move through the Advent season, think about ways you can consciously incorporate grace into your celebrations, relationships, and personal reflections.