Salvation happens every time someone with a key uses it to open a door he could lock instead. ~Barbara Brown Taylor
This quote has been with me since I read it a few weeks ago. I'm not really sure why it has stuck with me other than I must need to explore it for myself. My guess it if I need to hear it, maybe you do too. Instead of salvation, I think the beginning word of the quote should be grace. Salvation suggests that there is a deliverance from sin and grace suggests an unmerited Divine intervention that happens. I believe that it is a better fit for the quote.
We are both the person who can open a door and the person who can lock it. We do it all the time to ourselves and others. How often do we lock ourselves out of our own life? The life I am talking about is the life that is there waiting for all of us. It is where we can move into our dreams and aspirations; the place inside us where who we are, aligns with what we do.
Sometimes it comes in the most unusual ways, barely recognizable to us. Other times it may be pretty clear if we stop ourselves long enough to reflect. What are the thoughts going through our head's? That is a good place to start. What we think about is what we create in our life. One of the things I always teach the people I work with is, you have to create it in your head before you can hold it in your hand. I know it takes conscious thought to do this ,but I believe it is very important since you hold the key to your heart. That's right...you hold the key to your heart, not anyone else. There is no lack of opportunities where we can choose to either open the door or lock it.
We also hold the key in our relationships with others. Relationship is about allowing ourselves to give and receive from each other, bringing out the best in the other person, while staying true to ourselves. In a relationship, when have you locked the door by what you have said or done? When have you opened it?
Regardless of where you may be in this, the important part of this is the idea of extending grace by opening a door. When you know how you want to be in your life and relationships, you can move past the thoughts that keep you hostage; you open a door. It opens the perspective to encompass more than what meets the eye. When we can do this we open to the power of Spirit that is all around us. That is grace...it is what happens in us when we open the door to our heart and to our relationships. It allows us to feel what we may not be able to see. Grace may be one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and for others. Rather than letting our fears get in the way, I would invite you to extend grace to yourself and to someone else today. You hold the key to peace and joy, use it to open doors to a grander vision for yourself and others than you ever imagined.
Peace and Joy to you in the New Year!
Sandy
