31 December 2011 | London | *Tree of Life*
“… there are two ways through life – the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you’ll follow. Grace doesn’t try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries. Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things. … no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end. I will be true to you. Whatever comes.” (Mrs. O’Brien)
Somehow clear on the emotional, spiritual level. On the conscious level more difficult to comprehend. Different approaches suggest various interpretations. Grace versus Nature. Strong religious context. Thomas Aquinas. Not limited to the Grace of God. Grace causing good in all souls of the creatures. No limitation to religious context. Moral qualities. Kindness. Good and charitable behaviour. Pleasant disposition and concern for others.