Ask Parvati 32: Gratitude, the Action of Grace - Part 2: It Is All Grace

PART 2: IT IS ALL GRACE

(Continued from Giving Thanks for All We Have)

I am from Montreal. In Quebec, Thanksgiving is called L'Action de
Grace, which literally means, the Act of Grace. I love that name. The
Act of Grace. Why would Thanksgiving be connected to the act of grace?
Perhaps it is that all we have in our lives is an act of grace.

We tend to think of the painful things as mistakes and the good stuff
as luck. Or perhaps we think of the stuff we like as grace, a gift
from beyond, and things we don't like as a curse. However we choose to
see the moment and understand our life, we must ask, what is grace? Do
we have any control over it? How can we amplify it? Where does it come
from?

Grace to me is an alignment between our Nature Body (the physical,
emotional, intellectual and spiritual bodies, or sheaths that create
our aura) and the Cosmic Intelligence Body (the etheric, astral,
causal, mental and alien realms). When our Nature Body and the Cosmic
Intelligence Body align, we have usually an "a-ha" moment, where all
seems to brighten and go from monochrome to technicolour. Somehow, our
field of perception just broadened. That alignment, I call Grace.

For the most part, many of us are walking around through our days
somewhat cockeyed, feeling disconnected, wanting life to be different,
wondering why it is not. There is tremendous unhappiness in the world
and we contribute to it through our disconnected states. A milky fog
can run through our mind and seep into our day, like somehow we are
just not quite there. In essence, we are not. We are lost in wanting,
in thoughts about what could be or what was, rather than what is. We
can resist what we feel and deny the happenings in our lives so our
feelings and lives go on as they are while we look another way.

To me, the above describes a disconnect, a way in which we have not
quite rooted into our being on the Earth, tapped into the vitality of
this moment, and expanded to meet what is. If we are going to give
thanks, we need to feel connected to this moment. If we are going to
connect to this moment, then we need to look at what this moment
brings.

If this moment brings tension, see it as grace. If this moment brings
expansion, see it as grace. See all as grace. When we see all as
grace, we stop resisting and begin to expand beyond the limited
confines of our ego and tap into the vastness of pure consciousness.
We begin to remember that we are not the doers, but vehicles for the
divine.

I have explored the notion of the illusion that we are the doers in
many blog entries. It is worthy of the repeat because the habit to think of
ourselves as in control is so very deep in our psyche. We think life
is happening "to" me and we are "in control". This leads to suffering.

When we begin to realize that all is grace, we begin to feel grateful
for what is. Think about it. You breathe. You are alive. You likely
can walk, even run. You likely can wiggle your fingers and toes. What
force is keeping your body alive? Really think about that. What force?
Is it not totally amazing?!

If ever I feel a bit down, I reconnect with that thought, the profound
WOW at being here at all - alive. This life provides us with such
riches, we can oversee them so easily because we are busy wanting
something from the future or the past. We miss the here and now.

We take the simplest things for granted, but they are there only
because of grace. Today, go for a walk. Fall colours are beautiful.
Take a look more closely at the immense complexity of life, the many
layers, intricacies. What force runs through all you see? Remember,
you are a part of it all! Now please, just let that blow your mind, at
least a wee bit. In that "wow" for this moment, there is the
tremendous power of gratitude just waiting for you to breathe it all
in. Breathe it all in and know you are loved.

(Continued tomorrow with Thanking Illness)