A saving grace

I met up with a friend for coffee. I worried that she was going to have some bad news. When we had last talked, she had told me that she was having a tough time at work. She feared she was on thin ice. We had worked together years ago and I knew her to be a great worker. She cared a lot about her work and always brought a lot to the table.

She told me that her boss and her had been having a few issues. They didn’t connect real well. He was a stickler for details and on top of that, the company wasn’t doing well. So when she texted me about getting together, I had no idea what to expect. I tried to get some hint of how things were going, but she didn’t bite. She simply told me that she had some news.

Let’s talk

It turns out that she had some news and then some. Her boss had pulled her into a meeting and asked what was wrong. He noticed that her work had been suffering. My friend admitted that she had been struggling. Her mother had taken ill and she then on top of that, her own health had taken a dive. She thought she was keeping things running at work. However, she recognized that she might have let a few balls fall.

She feared that the next thing from the boss would be a “see ya later” wave. He had a certain old school way about him. She expected that boss’ next move was to can her butt during an already crazy job market. But she got something altogether different.

The boss offered her grace. He said he understood. He had recently gone through something similar with his own family. He asked if she needed some time off and if there was anything he could do to help. My friend said that she was completely shocked. It wasn’t what she expected to hear from him.

My friend talked about how it made her feel seen. Her face lit up as she told me the story. She said she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She specifically called out the word Grace. It’s a word that I keep seeing lately. I saw a motivational speaker touch on it recently on social media too. I looked the word up and I’m still not sure what it means.

A word with a complicated meaning

Grace is a tricky. It’s one of those words that we know it when we see it. And we certainly know it when we don’t see it. But forget about trying to explain what the hell it is.

I think it means “to be.” To be courteous of others, to be kind, to live and let live. I hear it mentioned a lot to give yourself grace, that you’re not perfect. To give yourself a break.

There’s the religious element too, to have God’s grace. In particular, God’s saving grace. It certainly means to say thank you.

In the end, I’m not sure I understand the word any better now. I do know the times though when I’ve felt it. It made me feel a mixture of joy, happiness, and satisfaction. It made me feel good about the people I was with and good about myself.

Here’s to more grace in our lives.