One of the first songs I learnt to play on the violin as a child was the tune we know today as Amazing Grace. Raised as a Christian, I already knew the words and they would make themselves heard in my head as I played along. By then, I was fairly competent as a violinist for my age, but I still needed to practice before I fully became a conduit for a melody. Then suddenly I would intuitively know what was next before I read the music on the page.
When I first started playing the violin, I found it possible to play a tune placing your hands in the correct place at the correct time, leaving the correct pauses, and not know that it is still out-of-tune. My music teacher was very experienced and would be able to tell right away when the instrument itself needed tuning in, which is something that would fascinate my young mind. I think this is because I was heavily focused on the logical steps of producing a tuneful melody:- the digit positioning, the rests and bow direction. The more creative variable of being able to hear when the strings were out of tune was something that often passed me by.
Now, when I was invited to contribute to 365 Moments of Grace I found it difficult to know what to write. It’s not that I believed I hadn’t experienced grace, but I did have a hard time identifying it. Grace can be difficult to define and can take many forms. I realised that this was an opportunity to become better acquainted with the concept of ‘grace’, so I began searching everyday events for it. It’s a logical method, why wouldn’t it work?! Yes, I’d forgotten about the elusive creative variable of knowing when I needed a re-tune. I needed to let go* of my expectations of what grace was ‘supposed to be’ and be open to observing something and knowing, “Aaah, this is grace!”
Just like learning to play the violin, I needed to practice by cultivating this open awareness if I wanted to truly know grace when it presented itself. Well, I have been practising, and I’m making progress. When grace touches my life I am grateful, and when I’m more open and mindful of its existence I feel as though I have even more to be grateful for. And I’m thankful to be part of 365 Moments of Grace. I’m gradually working my way through the book, reading each piece with an open mind and an equally open heart. What I particularly appreciate is how willing each author is to share relevant difficulties that led up to a graceful moment, showing their authentic selves and allowing the reader to appreciate that the writers just people like them.
It’s my hope that as I continue to read this beautiful book I will learn the tune of grace better. Perhaps one day I’ll know it without having to look at the pages, but for now I’m happy to keep practising until a greater awareness of grace flows effortlessly.
365 Moments of Grace is available from Amazon here: http://amzn.to/28KBFaD
*’Letting go’ is actually the subject of my 365 Moments of Grace piece.