A Definition

It doesn't demand me to be something I'm not
It doesn't push me to be somewhere I'm not ready to go
It doesn't judge me for not living up to certain expectations
It doesn't make me want to run and hide or hang my head in hopeless shame
It silences the voice that screams inside my soul, relentlessly telling me,
"You'll never be good enough!"
It comes in times of stillness and quiet listening
It brings acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, patience, understanding, faith, hope and love
It saves me, heals me and frees me to be all that I am created to be
It is life and the longer I am alive,
the more it is to me a mystery and a miracle,
something that my humanness cannot grasp, but that I must reach out and accept, nonetheless
It openly defies everything that I know to be logical and philosophically correct
It is the answer to every question my heart yearns to understand,
but I stubbornly shake my head in discelief, because is seems too good to be true
I am instantaneoulsly drawn to it and repelled by it
My pride tells me, "There's no such thing as a free lunch.
There must be something I have to do to earn it."
Fear keeps my fragile hope of it safely hidden away and protected
so that it cannot be shattered
Yet in the stillness,
the Spirit inside my heart tells me,
"Yes, it IS true,
it IS free
and it is YOURS for the asking
I want more than anything for you to accept it, no strings attached"
So, I ask
it is given
I accept and I drink of it deeply
It is cool and sweet and pure
It meets my every need
I am at peace
It is Grace.