The Grace of Inclusiveness

 “I don’t want to talk about His Divinity;

I’d rather talk about His Humanity –

how He lived His Life here on earth;

His Kindness, His Tolerance.

I think we can’t go around measuring our goodness

by what we don’t do, by what we deny ourselves,

what we resist and who we exclude.

I think we’ve got to measure goodness by

what we embrace, what we create

and who we include.”

(An excerpt from the Movie: Chocolat, 2000)

With Easter approaching, I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to write this month.  These thoughts brought back memories from my childhood of being raised in a Roman Catholic family, attending Catholic schools, attending a Catholic Church – a Cathedral - St. Raymond’s in Joliet, Illinois.  As a child, my Dad taught me how to pray; I was a very fervent “pray-er!”  In fact, I would spend some nights saying extra prayers – then I would let God know that those extra prayers were for the nights when I fell asleep and forgot to pray!  I often think God must get a real kick out of children’s prayers – priceless innocence!  Our family practiced Lent, which meant we got up every morning in the dark, drove to Church in the bitter cold to attend 6:00 a.m. Mass – the church was quiet, cold and very empty.  It was a very large Church, so it was austere at that time of the morning.  Practicing Lent as a child meant “giving up” something you really liked during that period of time, a small sacrifice – most often candy – chocolate!  My Dad would let us have a little treat on Sundays if we were obedient to our Lenten sacrifice during the week.  That was a real gift!  Chocolate Grace?

All this nostalgia brought back sweet memories of the movie Chocolat.  So as not to give the story plot away, I will share only a little snapshot, so you get the idea:

A woman moves into a small French town, unmarried, with a child – a real faux pas in this town of many societal rules!  She opens a shop at the beginning of Lent and makes “to-die-for” chocolates – a real temptation!  However, since she doesn’t “fit” the town’s staid morals, people look askance at her; yet, they want so badly to try her chocolates!  Many characters come into play as the story progresses; but the real beauty is how this woman treats everyone she meets.  When Easter Sunday comes about, the Village Mayor, who was going to provide the Easter Sunday Service, is unavailable to do so (you will have to watch the movie to find out why!); so his young, “next-in-line” gives the sermon instead.  He is unprepared and very nervous; but gets up in front of everyone and the above-mentioned words are what he shared.

I thought it was amazingly beautiful!  This is also what I mean when I’ve mentioned in past posts about being open to messages of Grace.

We may think of Jesus as someone far from reach; yet, He walked the earth – He lived the life of a child, a young adult, and a man – He experienced the same types of life lessons we experience (and then some!).  In His Humanity, He taught us how to treat people: warmth, kindness, caring, loving and healing – including everyone.  The movie Chocolat is a great lesson on inclusiveness – tolerance of differences, openness to newness and change.  The lead character touched people’s lives and they were changed forever.

In November, we talked about the Grace of Acceptance – feeling unacceptable, in any circumstance is so shaming; yet, we’ve all been there!  Below is a quote from The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle, 1999) that brings insight to this topic:

“Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective.  It does not make one person special.  It is not exclusive.  Exclusivity is not the love of God but the ‘love’ of ego.”

Whatever Easter means to you or if Easter is not a part of your life – we all experience spring – the newness, the freshness, the warmth of the sun, getting outside, seeing new buds sprouting and the signs of wildflowers to come – remember that each of God’s creations is a Gift for all of us to enjoy – the Grace of Inclusivness.

May you be blessed with Grace…always.