It abounds, grace – Grace abounds. Have you ever heard of that expression? We all know what grace means, especially when we need it. We think of mercy, a pardon, or a temporary reprieve from experiencing the consequences of our actions. Like the last time I ruined yet another new shirt by forgetting to take the ink pens out of the pocket before it went through the wash. Yet, we are unsure of the definition when it is asked of us. Suddenly, we think of grace only as that short prayer before a meal.
I had nothing to do with this.
The thought – grace abounds – it just popped into my head, but what does all this have to do with what I intended to write about today? Yet another confusing rant about livestock? No, my other favorite subject, Golden Retrievers. My faithful sidekick is only mentioned in passing at the close of each post. I thought this would be a good week to push her up to the top of the page. After all, even Robin is allowed to sit in the front seat with Batman in the Batmobile. He isn’t relegated to the trunk next to his unused golf clubs.
Back to the thought. This morning, I wanted to side-step this whole subject but now I can’t. It is as if I must dispense with this one before I move on to my topic. I know what grace is, but does it abound? Put another way, does it teem, swarm, bustle, or does it overflow uncontrollably? You get the drift. Since it popped into my head, the thought, I am beginning to wonder if there is someone I need to extend grace to or is there someone out there that I need to be asking for grace from?
Before I move on, I have one last consideration. Is grace and mercy something that I can ask for in advance of doing something that I will probably do, unintentionally of course, for the purpose of creating a “bank” that I can draw from when needed? Can I hold a pardon, like I would a get out of jail free card, until I actually need it?
We have a Golden Retriever, Ivy, that is about 10-months old and has come to epitomize the notion that grace abounds. No matter what I do or no matter what my mood, when I come home each day she greets me with affection that flows uncontrollably. For that brief moment, she thinks she was put on this earth to love on me and she won’t quit trying until she does. Soon there-after, she will start chewing on something that she shouldn’t, make yet another attempt to clean the counter for us or her favorite pastime, insuring that Leo the cat gets the right amount of exercise each day. Her unconditional affection for me lasts only as long as her pre-adolescent attention span will allow.
When she misbehaves, she needs to be taught how be a part of our family, so we extend her grace; a firm command and whatever else it takes to get her to stop her unwanted behavior, followed up with a pat on her head and a scratch behind her ear. She is learning and so I am. Like the puppy in its stage of adolescence, I am still learning that while my assessment of my condition may be correct, my response to what I experience may be a bit too impulsive, and my tone too sarcastic, leaving a perception that my words are more cutting than humorous. I forget that those around me are carrying the burden of my disease in their own way, and they too may need a measure of grace from me. The grace thing needs to flow abundantly both ways.
According to the wonder pup, we can’t hoard mercy or defer a pardon. When we hold on to them too tightly, we forget that they were given as gifts and gifts are meant to be shared. When we first accepted grace, it came with the understanding that we would pass it along.
That’s this Golden’s Rule.
I hope this post doesn’t go to her head. She already wants to be my guest blogger! We tried it once before; Google struggled with the translation.
Thanks for reading liking and sharing,
Al and Ivy, his faithful, and verbose, wonder pup.