GRACEFUL
GO:
I used to think about gracefulness like this:
delicate,
beautiful,
breakable,
fragile,
hold-your-breath-watch-in-awe.
But the longer I've lived,
the more people I've come to love,
the wider my world has become,
the less those words seem to apply to what
graceful
is really all about.
My husband plays tennis,
really, really well.
And he is graceful when he does.
Strong,
swift,
accurate,
powerful,
concentrated.
My grandchildren play a wide variety of games,
engage in fascinating conversations with one another,
and broaden their thinking and their horizons with
every passing year.
They are
open,
eager to learn,
generous with their encouragement,
quick to laugh,
lit from the inside with life.
So I wonder.
All my life, I have felt entirely graceless.
I am physically uncoordinated,
cannot play a sport to save my life,
am large and carry too many pounds,
and feel like an elephant in
most situations.
But maybe, maybe...
grace is not about how I move
or even how I look.
Maybe grace is about
strength,
courage,
adaptability,
openness,
honesty,
commitment,
being able to laugh out loud
at myself,
at life,
at the wonder of it all.
And if that's true,
then graceful
is attainable.
Graceful
is
gift
and
reward.
Graceful
is how we grow in life
in faith,
in wonder,
in delight,
in the fear of the Lord.
STOP
