Grace and forgiveness.
Emerson has recently come to realize that in this lifetime he wants to focus on forgiveness, for both himself and others. Basically, that means releasing blame and resentment by choosing the path of forgiveness as the ultimate solution. Although the idea seems rather simple, it’s not so easy in practice. At this point in his life, he feels that it’s the perfect time to look deeper within and try to make an incremental shift into living more gracefully.
The idea of embracing forgiveness is certainly not new for him. In fact, he broached the subject in his mid-forties. He felt that various elements of his life were out of balance. Ambitions needed to be tamed, along with his insistence that he, alone, could make things happen. He was fully engaged with his ego. He lacked vulnerability. But he needed a path forward to change his ingrained persona and habits. His naïveté convinced him that he simply needed to push this new agenda along, so he never imagined the process could be decades in the unfolding. But also in naïveté, he somehow intuited the importance of grace and forgiveness, and that at least became a place to begin.
In times of turmoil or uncertainty, playing guitar was his way to sort things out. Years ago, he began writing a song he called Gracefully. However, like many other songs, it remained unfinished. Why? Well, he excused the reluctance to complete the song by being just too busy “getting ahead.” But unfinished or unresolved issues have a way of simply going dormant, rather than going away. When a twinge of dissatisfaction peaked again, that unfinished song sprang to life to create another opportunity to take action, which might also result in personal change.
Then, one day Em came across a sweater that was left behind by our college-bound son, Aaron. Em put on the sweater as a gesture of sentimental closeness and ended up wearing it nearly every day. He felt graced and strengthened by Aaron whenever he wore it and imagined that it was left behind just for him.
So we had the perfect creative storm: an unfinished song and a magical sweater. To further things along, Cheryl took up the challenge to complete the lyrics. That was the impetus that was needed. The song was soon finished and eventually recorded in 2003. Together, we wrote it for two voices in harmony instead of one, which was another indication that a change was in the air.
Fast forward twenty plus years, and the topic of Forgiveness arrived front and center in Em’s awareness once again. He was no longer interested in the spotlight or in following ambitions. Instead, he imagined himself quietly unseen, leaping for joy with his renewed enthusiasm for grace and forgiveness.
Recently he revisited the completed song to re-energize and re-commit to change, with a more mature perspective and a strong desire to make real progress—hopeful that he’ll eventually catch on and catch up.
Even as we’re often unknowingly graced by others, we may also acknowledge self-grace. Our sincere efforts and persistent dedication are rewards in themselves. Surely, living gracefully is a very particular feeling of being buoyant, floating both within ourselves and above the earthly strife, no matter what the circumstances are.
“Quietly and sometimes unknowingly, we give each other strength beyond measure”—excerpted from the book, Time to Partner.
We spend our entire lives “Reaching,” for one thing or another.
Yet we know that “grasping” and “holding” are only illusions. It’s not possible to “hold onto” anything. Instead, we see that life happens mainly through the act of Reaching. When we focus on the reaching, we begin to understand that the desire, the aspiration itself animates life.
Quality time is undeniably great for relationships. We've discovered that quantity of time can provide that quality. Perhaps it takes Time to Partner.