The power of embracing grace in this moment.
We are living in contentious times. In such times, we often face the question: how should we respond? This has been the central question of many essays in The Healthiest Goldfish over the past year. It is a question which implies others: when should we speak out, intervene? When should we accept disruptive change as, potentially, beneficial, and when is it just disruption for its own sake? When does enforcement of policies we dislike—but which are, ultimately, legitimate expressions of the popular will—tip into injustice that demands a response? How should we ensure our responses are both prudent and effective in this moment? How do we maintain our moral integrity in a time that incentivizes expedience and cynicism? How do we address assaults on small-l liberalism without becoming illiberal ourselves?
As I have wrestled with these questions, I have found myself turning to the concept of grace. What is grace? It has many definitions, including “mercy, pardon,” “benevolence, goodwill,” and “ease and fluidity of movement or manner.” It also has a theological resonance, a perspective from which Andrew Sullivan wrote when he described grace as:
“…those precious, rare times when exactly what you were expecting gives way to something utterly different, when patterns of thought and behavior we have grown accustomed to and at times despaired of, suddenly cede to something new and marvelous. It may be the moment when a warrior unexpectedly lays down his weapon, when the sternest disciplinarian breaks into a smile, when an ideologue admits error, when a criminal seeks forgiveness, or when an addict hits bottom and finally sees a future. Grace is the proof that hope is not groundless. “
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