John 1:14-18
Jesus is Full of Grace and Truth
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
I do not understand the mystery of God's Grace, but I know we also need to be graceful to others...Many who were in trouble and suffering went to and called on Jesus...They saw Him as the One who could help them with their troubles and sufferings and was the One full of Grace and Truth...He helped them with His LOVE, His Grace, and His Truth...He is the One who can help us grow old gracefully...
Margot Benary-Isbert was a German and American author...She wrote this about aging and how it was affected her...And until I read her poem, I did not know what abbess meant...Abbess is a woman who is the head of an abbey of nuns...
We might learn a little bit about grace as we read this Prayer of Anonymous Abbess...
“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess:
LORD, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old...Keep me from becoming too talkative, and especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity...
Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples' affairs...With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it...But thou knowest, LORD, that in the end I will need a few friends...
Keep me from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point...
Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others; help me to endure them with charity...But seal my lips on my own aches and pains -- they increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing...
I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn't agree with that of others...Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong...
Keep me reasonably gentle...I do not have the ambition to become a saint -- it is so hard to live with some of them -- but a harsh old person is one of the devil's masterpieces...
Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy...Let me discover merits where I had not expected them, and talents in people whom I had not thought to possess any...And, LORD, give me the grace to tell them so...
Amen”...