Grace

Grace is the quality of being pleasantly polite, or a willingness to be fair and polite.

That’s according to the Cambridge English Dictionary.

The Americans see it differently. According to the Webster it’s a controlled, polite, and pleasant way of behaving

The addition of the ‘controlled’ is telling. It suggests that displaying grace for an American requires an unnatural effort.

I have no idea what the Australian Macquarie Dictionary reports for the meaning of grace because the thing is quite gracelessly hidden behind a paid firewall.

One thing that I have noticed is that many people find it easier to exude grace when interacting with acquaintances and strangers.

Family though, that’s a tougher gig.

Familiarity seems not only to breed contempt but it also kills grace.

Kids; they are the masters of this.

Some of them never learn the benefits of grace as they mature. Often because their parents simply don’t value grace enough themselves and therefore don’t bother to teach it.

Which makes me think that the Americans are onto something. For most, grace may be a learned attribute, hence the addition of the ‘controlled’.

Taking much effort to learn, the payback for an education in the discipline of grace is well worth the application.

Simply stated, grace reduces a whole bunch of barriers in life at very little or no cost. It probably has highest IRR of all human behaviors.

I suspect that the closer to one’s home that one practices grace, the more content one’s soul will be.

However even the best disciples often forget to, or are never taught to, practice grace with themselves.

If you can crack this then you are well on your way to nirvana in this life.