God's grace, call on me
Onward light the spirit springs
Darkness slowly falls
~ Thomas C. Maples
God’s Grace: A Spiritual Grounding
What moves you? What brings the presence of meaning in your life, right now? Is it a heartfelt greeting from a long-absent friend? Is it warmly embracing that loved one who was gone? Or is it God’s Grace that guides you? I have heard that the grass is greener on the other side of the hill. That parable seems a universal concept, so humanity traverses. Yet, I cannot help but think, is it because the light is brighter over there? Is it, versus where we are at, simply, somehow, more touched by the warming embrace of the sun? What is your guiding light? Can happiness be as simple as letting go and letting God?
When God’s flame calls, where will you be? No, I am not talking about a flame in a negative sense. Hell-fire, if you will, so common in fear-based worship. Instead, what I am alluding to here is the internal passion from which spirit drives soul to ground its experience. The essence of life that I speak of here is the passion that arises within. This inner passion ignites a light that guides our personal and collective brightness. It is there. Possibly somewhere deeply buried within. Even when vulnerability feels overwhelming, a personal or collective passion can light the way. This path allows God’s grace to truly touch the heart.
I recently had one such experience. I was at an airport, ready to pick up my son from his first major trip away from home. It was hard for me to let go just 10 days earlier. But by doing so, I can tell you that I found a kernel of truth. As I spoke to my wife, an epiphany hit. We shared our mutual experiences of letting go of our fledgling for the first time. It was at that moment that I realized that my children teach me as much about myself as I can only hope to teach them. What a beautifully reciprocal process parenting a child creates, as it allows us to grow through our children’s growing experience.
A Springing Spirit: The Guiding Light of Parenting
Wisdom is earned, not learned. The grace of being part of a greater plan, such as parenting, is reciprocal by its very nature. With this, I wonder. Is this the measure that God gives to those willing to take part in the greater plan?
As a father, I know that God guides me towards something larger than myself. I see the essence of fatherhood. Yet is it archetypal, as philosophy and psychology allude to? Or is it spiritual and divinely driven? Either way, I see this only as a way to explain, not to fully engage with the mystery of the growth possible in the simple yet most challenging act of raising a child.
Grace shines upon a father or mother who cares. It burns even brighter in the child raised to be a good human being. Their ability to aspire towards the light of grace is a reward. It comes from the hard work parents put into their children. This work entails guidance. It also entails reciprocal graciousness, for how can good growth occur in a proclivity of loathsome behaviors?
Parents must also be willing to face those sometimes more difficult tasks that parenting demands. Children must be willing to take the step and challenge their abilities. It is a sacrifice on both parts; a sacrifice for all parties involved. It benefits the children, the parents, and society at large.
A culture invested in the strength of the nuclear family will develop the capacity to teach the fledgling generation the ways to navigate toward the shining sun, a universal truth that represents the life-giving force of God’s grace that shines upon us.
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27
We were also told,
but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14
We are all God’s children. In raising the next generation, I ponder if, through the duty to this calling called parenthood, we can create just one inkling of heaven. This would be from the chaotic experiences so prevalent not only in the world itself, but also in the family structures that struggle so prominently today.
Darkness Slowly Falls
You too try to bring that presence of God in your family, for the family that prays together stays together. And I think that we in our family don’t need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace – just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.
How does darkness fall? The idea of darkness ceases when we teach the next generation the values of peace, joy, and communication. Let’s call it evil if you will. These values strengthen the family unit. There are numerous value sets. Many diverge on political or religious lines. It is imperative to foster natural communication. This communication aims to find what is traditionally known in Buddhism as the Middle Path. When we engage this middle path, I believe we can reach a place. In this place, Jesus’ primary commandment will allow darkness to fall away.
I give you a new commandment:* love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35
In her Nobel Laureate acceptance speech, Saint Teresa of Calcutta encourages us to bring the presence of God into our families. A family that prays together stays together. Here, we can see a universal communication pattern arise. However, prayer in this manner is not directed to the humane. It is directed to a higher principle, God, one where a direction can emerge as a means to promote unity. God is a universal focal point that, through repeated action, allows the chain to grow stronger in mutual direction.
Get together. Are family gatherings supposed to be a moment of animosity or anxiety, or a moment of Thanksgiving? We must bring that moment of peace from within. When we can truly let go, we allow love’s presence in the home. I wonder if we can use those individual moments to illuminate the natural darkness that may be present around us? As the parable once said, we do not light a lamp to put it under a bushel basket. Instead, we put it upon a pedestal to help shine its grace upon those who may not be able to see beyond the darkness of the night.
May God’s grace shine upon your journey to love, understand, communicate with, and guide your family to advance confidently and realize the brevity of their dreams. Thank you for reading.
More from Dr. Thomas Maples
Find me on Psychology Today
Fill Your Glass: The Disciplined Practice of Loving-Kindness – A Sacred Journey: Where Myths Unfold and Potential Awakens
- Fill Your Glass: The Disciplined Practice of Loving-Kindness
- The Architecture of Joy: Navigating Darkness to Find Your Light
- How to Find Spiritual Grounding: Healing a Fractured Soul through Integrity
- The Unshakable Anchor: Building Hope in a Fractured World
- Finding Grace in the Messy: Catholic Wisdom and the Psychology of Intentional Parenting
