Not so poor

Julia ♦ March 31, 2023 ♦ 2 Comments

At Walmart for a quick ordinary purchase, I found this marked-down hibiscus plant.
It brought beauty to our summer for many weeks. Now it’s budding again. August, 2015

“Grace is not so poor a thing that it cannot present itself in any number of ways.”
– Marilynne Robinson

Have you ever gone into Target or Macy’s or Piggly Wiggly with one particular purchase in mind, and been so distracted by other fun or pretty or tasty things that you bought more than you intended, or forgot what you came for? That happens to me a lot, and I thought of that when I read this quote by Robinson. Maybe being distracted by abundance is not always a bad thing– especially when it isn’t costly.

We go through life with some pretty clear ideas of what we want, and often we do achieve the goals on which we focus. It’s a powerful asset to have the drive and persistence to reach goals through diligent effort. But there is so much more to appreciate and enjoy along the way, too. It would be a shame if we are so intent on a few aspects of life that we miss the countless benefits that are free for everyone to enjoy, every day.

For those of us whose lives did not unfold quite the way we may have thought they would, it’s wonderful to realize that happiness can sneak in through doors and windows we didn’t even know were there; that grace stays with us in thousands of ways that can never be stolen. Whenever I am mindful of all the blessings that surround me (beginning with the lovely sound of birds early in the morning, and ending with a peaceful evening at home, or a full moon glowing in the sky) I understand that grace surrounds us all the time whether or not we are aware of it.

Today, grace will present itself to us in any number of ways. Which will we notice, and savor?

This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.