“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be opened.”  St. Paul in Ephesians 1

“In the end, gratefulness will be our full aliveness to a gratuitously given world.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

In need of grace we seek God.  We cry out to the Lord.  In love God hears us and bestows an abundance of grace.  But in order to see it, sense it, receive it, live in it, the eyes of our hearts must be opened.  Sometimes the opening of our heart eyes is a gentle process that occurs over time.  Sometimes it is a sudden, jarring life event that forces us to move from our heads—cuz life simply doesn’t make sense—to our hearts.  It is one that breaks our heart open.  Painful though it may be, it is precisely what is needed for us to see.  To see grace poured out on us in a myriad of ways.  And as we receive that grace and begin to swim in it a curiously unexpected but wonderful thing happens: We become grateful.  Grateful for everything, and nothing at all.  Grateful for big things and small.  Grateful for whatever it is that each day, and each moment of each day, has in store for us.

This week I was aware of many such occasions of grace, but two stand out, both of which surprised me and resulted in gratefulness.

The first was at a supermarket.  I was checking out and noted that one of the items I was purchasing, a pecan pie, rang up for$10.00. That was double the amount I thought it was marked for.  When I asked Sue, the checker about it, she said that she didn’t know the correct price, but that no pie was worth that much!  So she reduced it to $5.00.  And then ensued a delightful, though short, conversation that provided a brief yet oh so meaningful moment of connection, and served as a great start to my day.

The other had to do with the new hiking boots I had recently bought at Brown’s, a local shoe store.   They were on sale, which was appealing to me, and when I tried them on they seemed to fit very well. It was a different brand of shoe than what I normally bought, but due to the price and the fit I decided to buy them.  A few days later I was able to take a long hike in them.  At first they were OK, but as I hiked further they began to be uncomfortable.  I knew I had made a mistake.  However, because I had bought them on sale and had already worn them, I doubted that I would be allowed to return or exchange them.  Nonetheless I decided to call the store anyway.  It just so happened that the store manager answered my call.  After explaining the discomfort to him I expected him to simply say that because I had already hiked in them, they couldn’t be returned.  Imagine my surprise when he said, “Bring them to the store and you can exchange them for another pair of your liking.”  Aside from being good business, in my opinion, this was grace.  And I was grateful.

We’re surprised by grace every day.  But in order to see it and receive it, the eyes of our heart must be opened.  Everything is a gracious gift from God, and the more we see these gifts the more overflowing with gratefulness we become. And that, too, then becomes a gift.

Have the eyes of your heart been opened?  If so, when did it happen and what caused it?

What occasions of grace did you have this week?

How might you be more attentive and aware of God’s grace?