Grace

Observation #9: We all need grace - perhaps the area we need it most is in being able to extend it to others... because that's often the hardest part.

I am quoting a piece written by Rick Tobias, CEO of Yonge Street Mission, where I work. It is a privilege to work under his leadership, and I'm sure you'll be able to understand why after you read the prayer below.

Prayer by Rick Tobias

Grace. God, grant us grace;
enough that we can see the beauty and value in individuals, even when their outward appearance obscures it completely; enough to see their honour, however deeply hidden and to grant respect, even when we think it is undeserved.
Help me to recognize the wounds and understand the shame that lies behind each act of rejection and moment of repulsive behaviour. Grant me grace to believe that most of us are doing the best we can in the midst of our personal brokenness.

Grace. God grant grace to a dad who cannot love; to a man crushed by the weight of his own neglected childhood and facing a son who spends his wealth and spits his name. Grace to a parent who gives up, and who drugs the pain by choosing vacation over children. Grace when the weight of failing, and of being failed, overwhelms. Grace to dads and grace to moms who, having no grace left to give, receive little in return.

Grace. God grant grace to the caregivers who over-spend every loving emotion, and who, finding themselves empty and void, act out love through sheer strength of will and commitment to justice. Grace to all, who having poured out their lives into others, discover that love is not all you need, and who live to see those in their care self-destruct. Grace to those who so freely give themselves to others yet sometimes forget to grace their selves.

Grace. God grant grace to me, when there is no place in my heart for a wounded child; when my life is so consumed with me and mine that I have little love to give. Grace to me when I pretend not to see, or turn away in fear from the ugly, untidy, or strange. Grace to me when I am so absorbed in my own life that I forget to be grace to others.

God, grant us grace. Enough for all we have experienced, and all that we have become, and enough to be all that you desire.