Moments of Grace

The diner is quiet this morning,
a person or two at the counter, a cook,
a bit of music in the background.
It is that lull between breakfast and lunch
where the world works and travels,
that seam in life where you can buy quiet,
an hour or two of anonymity
when no one wants a thing from you
and your soul can rest from it’s pursuit of survival
and simply be.

The coffee is strong.
You are careful not to dilute it
with too much sugar or cream,
not to cut its bitterness too far.
For you have learned to value reality
far more than you once did,
valuing even the pain that cuts you
more than the daydreams you once held dear.

Now, real is real.
The good and the bad a patchwork portrait
that you wear like holy robes,
confident of your Gods’ love,
that he can see the beauty beyond your failures
and give you what you have never been able to give
yourself:
Grace.

About this poem

A few facts…..

• I went through a period in the middle of my life where I could not give myself grace for my failures.
• Thanks to a pair of fine therapists, and a pair of gracious pastors, I found myself better able to give myself grace. Living with self grace is a healthier place to be.
• I spend an inordinate amount of time in coffee shops. Over the last decade, they have become as much my “office” as my office.
• The picture was taken a few days ago at my local diner/coffee shop, Pawlet Station in Pawlet, Vermont.

Tom