{"id":6239,"date":"2010-08-17T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/?p=6239"},"modified":"2010-08-19T10:07:05","modified_gmt":"2010-08-19T15:07:05","slug":"agents-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/agents-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Agents of grace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fail\"<\/a>
Ice Cream Fail | Photo by jblndl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We all have certain expectations of others, don’t we?<\/p>\n

We expect our bosses to treat us fairly.<\/p>\n

We expect our friends to return our phone calls in a timely manner.<\/p>\n

We expect our spouses to treat us right and fight with us on our side.<\/p>\n

We expect our neighbors to keep their yard freshly manicured, just like ours.<\/p>\n

We expect the other drivers to observe the same laws we observe and to properly yield to us.<\/p>\n

But sadly… no one will live up to our expectations 100% of the time.<\/strong>
\n
\nWe’re going to be let down. We’re going to be hurt. We’re going to be disappointed.<\/p>\n

And while our gut reaction is that each let down, each hurt, each disappointment is an opportunity for us to set the other person right — thinking we’re called to be Agents of Correction — what if it was a God given opportunity to show them grace?<\/p>\n

We can never when another person’s heart by firing back as Agents of Correction.<\/p>\n

When we fire our list or corrections and expectations at others, we’re doing nothing more than building a wedge between us and them.<\/p>\n

So, what if instead of looking for ways to correct others (usually in a not so pleasant tone), we looked for opportunities to show grace?<\/p>\n

Imagine a world where all Insurgents of Love also saw their calling as Agents of Grace… <\/p>\n

People on a mission — looking for every opportunity to drop Grace Bombs<\/a> on friend or foe, loved ones or strangers…<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/a><\/p>\n

For the boss who isn’t treating us fairly, we offer a note of encouragement.<\/p>\n

For our friend who hasn’t returned our phone, we send an e-mail to let them know we’re thinking of them.<\/p>\n

For our spouse, we offer them a break from the norm and an opportunity to relax by themselves or with their friends.<\/p>\n

For our neighbor, we offer to take a little extra time to mow and edge their yard as well.<\/p>\n

For the other drivers on our commute, we avoid the horn and finger and realize they likely started their day off poorly to be in such a rush — and say a prayer for their safety and the rest of their day.<\/p>\n

Be on the lookout today.<\/h3>\n

Look for each and every opportunity to be an Agent of Grace, rather than an Agent of Correction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
\nWhere there is hatred, let me sow love;
\nwhere there is injury, pardon;
\nwhere there is doubt, faith;
\nwhere there is despair, hope;
\nwhere there is darkness, light;
\nand where there is sadness, joy.<\/em><\/p>\n

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
\nto be consoled as to console;
\nto be understood as to understand;
\nto be loved as to love.
\nFor it is in giving that we receive;
\nit is in pardoning that we are pardoned;<\/strong>
\nand it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen<\/em> – Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all have certain expectations of others, don’t we? We expect our bosses to treat us fairly. We expect our friends to return our phone calls in a timely manner. We expect our spouses to treat us right and fight with us on our side. We expect our neighbors to keep their yard freshly manicured, … Continue reading Agents of grace<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18,17],"tags":[3743,3742,3745,3744,659,2781,3746,498,1599,1522],"class_list":["post-6239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-take-action","tag-agents-of-correction","tag-agents-of-grace","tag-chide","tag-correct","tag-grace","tag-insurgency-of-love","tag-insurgents-of-love","tag-love","tag-love-wins","tag-st-francis"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pEnSo-1CD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}