Read on Twitter
So, I've recently discovered the surprising joy of saying grace.
A weird revelation in my late twenties; I've never been religious. But I'd like to make the case that you should try it out.
First, some context.
(1/x)
A weird revelation in my late twenties; I've never been religious. But I'd like to make the case that you should try it out.
First, some context.
(1/x)
My dad and his only brother are, now, as they always have been, a study in contrasts.
My dad is a retired college professor, a committed atheist, and a heterodox leftist.
His brother: a devout, conservative Catholic and career federal law enforcement professional.
(2/x)
My dad is a retired college professor, a committed atheist, and a heterodox leftist.
His brother: a devout, conservative Catholic and career federal law enforcement professional.
(2/x)
They are both predictable products of the same upbringing: twelve years of Catholic school, suburban children to an agricultural dean and nurse of the Greatest generation.
My whole life, they've shared a well-honed brothers' antagonism, a love more thorn than rose.
(3/x)
My whole life, they've shared a well-honed brothers' antagonism, a love more thorn than rose.
(3/x)
My earliest memory of grace was at my uncle's Thanksgiving table.
My sister was enrolled in a Baptist kindergarten; it was the only full-day program in our area, a priority for my parents.
To my uncle's great surprise, my dad prompted my sister to say the blessing.
(4/x)
My sister was enrolled in a Baptist kindergarten; it was the only full-day program in our area, a priority for my parents.
To my uncle's great surprise, my dad prompted my sister to say the blessing.
(4/x)
It came to the tune of an Army march:
GOD IS GOOD AND GOD IS GREAT
LET US THANK HIM FOR THIS PLATE
BY HIS HAND WE ALL ARE FED
GIVE US LORD OUT DAILY BREAD
It wasn't, as you might imagine, want my uncle wanted. As my dad knew.
(5/x)
GOD IS GOOD AND GOD IS GREAT
LET US THANK HIM FOR THIS PLATE
BY HIS HAND WE ALL ARE FED
GIVE US LORD OUT DAILY BREAD
It wasn't, as you might imagine, want my uncle wanted. As my dad knew.
(5/x)
He also knew that my uncle would have the maturity not to show his displeasure to a five year-old.
I caught it, though.
In that moment, it saw it through my dad's eyes: a gleeful prank before the more important event, the shared meal.
(6/x)
I caught it, though.
In that moment, it saw it through my dad's eyes: a gleeful prank before the more important event, the shared meal.
(6/x)
It's been two decades and my other experience with grace has been limited: sporadic dinners and religious wedding services.
Then, I went to stay with my girlfriend's parents and we prayed before each meal.
(7/x)
Then, I went to stay with my girlfriend's parents and we prayed before each meal.
(7/x)
Her dad is a pulmonologist who regularly sees Covid patients in his clinic and at the hospital.
So, we prayed for them.
And we prayed to express gratitude for our own health, and to express gratitude for the food and for the shared company.
(7/x)
So, we prayed for them.
And we prayed to express gratitude for our own health, and to express gratitude for the food and for the shared company.
(7/x)
It took just a minute, my favorite minute of the day.
It was a dedicated moment, ritually set aside, to tell those you are with that you are grateful to be here and together.
A dedicated moment to feel the singular warmth of gratitude.
(8/x)
It was a dedicated moment, ritually set aside, to tell those you are with that you are grateful to be here and together.
A dedicated moment to feel the singular warmth of gratitude.
(8/x)
It is a lesson of isolation: the joy of company, the fragility of health and of routine.
And it revealed for me the magic of looking at the person who sits across the table from you each day, and saying that you are grateful for her.
(9/x)
And it revealed for me the magic of looking at the person who sits across the table from you each day, and saying that you are grateful for her.
(9/x)
There's a magic to saying aloud that you are happy to be in your home, that you're thankful for your dog and for your job, and for the friends you'll embrace again soon enough.
(10/x)
(10/x)
Folks are the unhappiest they've been in 50 years + the self-help / self-care industry is a capitalist grift.
But there is great evidence that expressing gratitude makes you feel measurably happier, that it is an instinct that you can cultivate: https://n.pr/37AiBuP
(11/x)
But there is great evidence that expressing gratitude makes you feel measurably happier, that it is an instinct that you can cultivate: https://n.pr/37AiBuP
(11/x)
Which brings me back to grace, a nightly moment of gratitude.
A routine that allows you to do a thing otherwise feels uneasy: to be earnest and open with kind of feelings that burn golden. To feel whelmed by them.
Then to quietly, simply step back into the day.
(12/x)
A routine that allows you to do a thing otherwise feels uneasy: to be earnest and open with kind of feelings that burn golden. To feel whelmed by them.
Then to quietly, simply step back into the day.
(12/x)
I don't know if that's how grace feels for my uncle, for whom it is a rite.
But I am sure that it's important to him, a moment that I understand better now.
(13/x)
But I am sure that it's important to him, a moment that I understand better now.
(13/x)
Anyway, give it a go.
Say it as a prayer, say it as a sentence—and let me know how it goes.
-30-
Say it as a prayer, say it as a sentence—and let me know how it goes.
-30-
