"The day is long, but the year is short. Live the days with grace."
It's what today's Chapel speaker (Mr. Campbell) said. Ever since this morning, it's been in my head. Live with grace. He gave us 4 points in what a grace-ful relationship looks like.
1) A graceful person accepts others (i.e. family, friends, significant other) to be "different." Different, in the sense of being unique, not sinful. Different, as in being weird, strange, odd, goofy, quirky, you get the idea.
(2)A graceful person allows others to be vulnerable. S/He doesn't jump on the other when others show their vulnerability. He told us a great story about being graceful in the face of another's vulnerability.
When he was a young boy, around 9th grade, the school gym got a trampoline. The students were all excited about this new toy, and gathered around to wait for the gym teacher's permission to get on and jump. The gym teacher wanted to give them a demonstration on safe ways to move around the trampoline, so he asked Mr. Campbell (a young boy then) to please take off his shoes and get on the trampoline. Excitedly, he took of his shoes, when he noticed that his socks had holes and his toes were sticking out. Of course, one of the boys saw this, and it became his sacred duty to let all the others know that Mr. Campbell's socks had holes.
He followed the teacher's directions on the trampoline, demonstrating to the other students the safety precautions for the trampoline. During that short period of time, Mr. Campbell's mind was fixated on those two little holes, and he vowed he would go home at the end of the day and mend all his socks so this would never happen again. As soon as class ended, the gym teacher dismissed the class and left.
His pride and self-esteem hurt, Mr. Campbell walked to class. As he was walking away, his gym teacher called him. The teacher asked him, "do you know why I asked you to go on the trampoline?" He took of his shoes, and showed Mr. Campbell his own holey socks. He told him that socks were so easily torn. "Because you're the most agile student of the class."
Now, Mr. Campbell had no idea what "agile" meant. So he looked it up in the dictionary. That day was a turning point for Mr. Campbell. Because of a gracious teacher who rushed off after class to make holes in his perfectly fine socks and show him that he was worthy, Mr. Campbell became confident in his own abilities and did a complete 180 in academics and in sports.
(3) A gracious person allows the other to be candid (in a respectful, loving, gracious way), without becoming resentful or judgmental.
(4) A gracious person gives others the freedom to make mistakes.
This is how God loves us. This is how God treats us. He is a gracious God, He gave us dignity, and He is gracious enough to respect our dignity. How amazing is that??
It's what today's Chapel speaker (Mr. Campbell) said. Ever since this morning, it's been in my head. Live with grace. He gave us 4 points in what a grace-ful relationship looks like.
1) A graceful person accepts others (i.e. family, friends, significant other) to be "different." Different, in the sense of being unique, not sinful. Different, as in being weird, strange, odd, goofy, quirky, you get the idea.
(2)A graceful person allows others to be vulnerable. S/He doesn't jump on the other when others show their vulnerability. He told us a great story about being graceful in the face of another's vulnerability.
When he was a young boy, around 9th grade, the school gym got a trampoline. The students were all excited about this new toy, and gathered around to wait for the gym teacher's permission to get on and jump. The gym teacher wanted to give them a demonstration on safe ways to move around the trampoline, so he asked Mr. Campbell (a young boy then) to please take off his shoes and get on the trampoline. Excitedly, he took of his shoes, when he noticed that his socks had holes and his toes were sticking out. Of course, one of the boys saw this, and it became his sacred duty to let all the others know that Mr. Campbell's socks had holes.
He followed the teacher's directions on the trampoline, demonstrating to the other students the safety precautions for the trampoline. During that short period of time, Mr. Campbell's mind was fixated on those two little holes, and he vowed he would go home at the end of the day and mend all his socks so this would never happen again. As soon as class ended, the gym teacher dismissed the class and left.
His pride and self-esteem hurt, Mr. Campbell walked to class. As he was walking away, his gym teacher called him. The teacher asked him, "do you know why I asked you to go on the trampoline?" He took of his shoes, and showed Mr. Campbell his own holey socks. He told him that socks were so easily torn. "Because you're the most agile student of the class."
Now, Mr. Campbell had no idea what "agile" meant. So he looked it up in the dictionary. That day was a turning point for Mr. Campbell. Because of a gracious teacher who rushed off after class to make holes in his perfectly fine socks and show him that he was worthy, Mr. Campbell became confident in his own abilities and did a complete 180 in academics and in sports.
(3) A gracious person allows the other to be candid (in a respectful, loving, gracious way), without becoming resentful or judgmental.
(4) A gracious person gives others the freedom to make mistakes.
This is how God loves us. This is how God treats us. He is a gracious God, He gave us dignity, and He is gracious enough to respect our dignity. How amazing is that??
posted by Debora at
7:29 PM
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