"One Sunday evening Dorothy Allison offered the sermon at MCC. She spoke about her experiences writing Bastard Out of Carolina. She recalled her 'poor white trash' origins and the grace with which the women of her family raised their children the best they could without much money, education, or class status. I could feel that the connection between the generations of women in her family helped heal her spirit.
"I also noted how the minister, Jim Mitowski, encourages creative people to talk from the pulpit honoring what they had learned about their spirit through their creativity. To me, it showed that Jim is full of grace. He bows to the source of spirit. He is pleased at what greatness is brought to God's sight. He can stand aside. He doesn't need to be the voice through which God speaks. When I'm there, grace enters my body and sings with me.
"Grace is my favorite word in the English language. To me, it denotes a flowing feeling of living deeply in my body. It tells me that my inside is connected to the outer world and I am traveling lightly on this planet.
"With your growing awareness of connection to your spiritual self, you will notice that you are in grace from time to time and it may surprise you. It will please you, too. It feels like all is right with the world and you have stepped inside that peaceful feeling. Think of grace as a robe with which you cover yourself. It is grace's robe that flows out behind you in the breeze, a breeze that connects you to the wind and the wind to the sea and the currents and air pressure. You are connected to everything around you by wearing that robe. Grace gives us ease to find our way back to loving the world.
Exercises
"1. Try asking the printed page where grace is. Look in a book of poetry for phrases to explore. Jot down those phrases to which you respond: all creatures sleep, kiss the rose of your skin, birth and craving quieted for a while. Then write what grace has to do with these random phrases.
"2. Image yourself visualizing grace around someone difficult in your life. How would that help you to deal with this person? Write down a prayer for her. Write down a prayer for yourself.
"3. Try to recall when you have been more generous than would be expected from your past experiences. Perhaps you did a kindness for someone who isn't always kind to you. Perhaps you were kind when you were not feeling joyful yourself. Write and explore that feeling of grace."
