I have been blessed with many powerful experiences in my personal and vocational life. Some have been traumatically powerful, others euphorically…but none like what I have been experiencing currently – none so hope-full.
I have studied, worked, and spoken extensively in the area of values-based leadership and culture, and I have grown to understand that all of this culminates in the aspect of character – within the incorporated collective as well as the individual. The whole of this activity has been compelling to me – like a sub-alpine path that invites a back-country mountaineer to a deeper experience of revelation within the journey. I initially believed that this journey would be hard work, and I engaged it as such, and though it seems to require a significant degree of resolve to continue (also patience, and even a little rest from time to time) I have come to understand that it is less about overwhelming/depleting effort and more about a steady-plodding into the mystery of faith.
Grace changes everything.
I spoke at an event recently on the subject of resilience and the opportunity for us to nurture and expand our resilience within the workplace – personally as well as corporately. However, this time I added three additional components:
- My personal story of childhood trauma and what I have been learning in the journey since
- More of my personal “failures” –
- The Gracenote as a metaphor for life and living
(How does brokenness heal?)
I was more than a little overwhelmed at the end of my talk when several people came to tell me of how deeply they had been impacted and encouraged by what I had shared. More than one of which hugged me with tears and emotion, unable to find the words to express what was happening inside them.
Over the years, I many people have told me that they were impacted by what I shared at corporate events – but never to this level. This was spirit-moving, core-of-soul sharing testimony to deep impact. Following this event, I too was unable to capture my experience with words to share with Karen, and even now I am lost to fully represent what I felt.
Grace is partly mystery.
Several of the people I work with currently have been speaking to the impact of grace in various ways as they experience it. One suggests it is a trail of bread crumbs, leading them through unchartered territory, and into a more peaceful existence – in spite of circumstances that were working to create anxiety. Another describes their workplace as being the best they have ever experienced in their life, specifically stating that they are observing how grace makes all the difference. Yet another is experiencing it as the transformational release from longterm self-destructive habits.
So – what is Grace?
To discover grace, we invite/enable it. This is mostly done by our posture; a humility that acknowledges our need. It is partly a commitment to own our accountability and to forgive others, forgive self, and fearlessly work towards reconciliation. It is a safe space. It is characterized by hope; a hope that is more about “letting” than striving; self-awareness than self-discipline. It is partly abiding peace; a rest in the current moment with neither fear of the future nor regret of the past. It is partly essence, and as I stated above, it is partly mystery – especially its its transformative effect.
The most powerful experience of my life has not been an event but rather a force that has been evidenced through events, and as such it gives my hope that it will continue to move powerfully into the future.
It is difficult to understand how grace is so transformative. I see its effects, in my life personally, in my work, and in the lives of others – and I am compelled and inspired to continue to let grace have its way.
