Grace Unfolding

Listen to audio excerpts from this book read by Paul Ferrini:

Unity vs. Duality Consciousness
Forgiveness Helps Us Return to Grace
Surrendering to Inner Perfection
Prayer for Grace

An Excerpt from Grace Unfolding

What We Surrender

In a worldly sense, surrender is not desirable. It is neither appropriate nor beneficial to give up one's power to another person, regardless of the position, lineage or symbolic value that person might have.

The kind of surrender we are talking about in this book is not a surrender to an outside authority, but to an inside one. When we talk about surrender here, we are talking about the surrender of our ego consciousness, our separated states of heart and mind, to a greater, more integral consciousness.

The assumption here is that each one of us is capable of tapping into that greater consciousness and living out from it, instead of living out from the fragmented consciousness of the wounded victim. Or to put it quite simply, we are capable of moving through our fears into the essence of love which is the Source of who we are.

Here we are surrendering to the truth of our being. We are surrendering to an inner certainty, to the part of us that knows without knowing how it knows. Surrender means giving up our need to control our life, figure things out, or predict the future. It means letting go of our judgments and interpretations of life, indeed of everything that stands between us and our peace.

Much of who we think we are is a composite of our fears and the defensive mechanisms born of those fears. While these defenses may keep us safe, they also keep us frozen. In that state of contraction, we cannot realize our true Self or the true Self of others.

Our realization happens only in the present moment. To be here fully, we must be willing to let go of the past and meet the future with open arms. That often means letting the doors that brought us here close behind us.

Surrendering our past without knowing what the future will bring requires trust in ourselves, in others and in the nature of reality. When we can be fully present and aware in the midst of that apparent uncertainty, we are clearly guided to take the next step in our lives.

In truth, it is a step by step journey. We may have a sense of where we are going, but we don't know exactly how or when we are going to get there. At each juncture in our experience, the next step is revealed to us. That is the way that grace unfolds in our life.

Who Surrenders?

One who is fearful cannot surrender. The contracted, defensive, egoic states of consciousness cannot surrender. They cannot yield. They can only deepen in their judgment and subsequent fall from grace.

Beyond our judgment and our fear, there is one who understands and forgives, who holds everything that happens in our lives with great compassion. Knowing that S/he is loved and accepted, S/he can offer that unconditional love and acceptance to you.

S/he is the one who holds the wounded child, calming and reminding it that it is safe. In her loving arms, the screams of the child diminish. Terror disappears and safety returns.

Remember, you are the child kicking and screaming and the one who holds that child with compassion. You are the one who judges and attacks and the one who forgives and atones for the attack. Lest you learn to hold your anger, your fear, your frustrated expectations with compassion, how can grace come into your life?