The Best of What Makes Us Who We Are

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Grace has a lot of meanings. The one that comes to mind first for me is the fluid, gravity defying grace of dancers. The most graceful dance sequence I’ve ever seen was performed by the Nicholas brothers in the movie “Stormy Weather,” made in 1943 and considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an African-American cast. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNKRm6H-qOU) Their grace came from many hours of practicing as does the grace of a pianist’s fingers moving over the keyboard or a violinist’s bow moving over the strings.

In contrast to the grace an athlete, dancer or artist gains by many hours of practice, the Christian meaning of grace is that of a gift, something that one doesn’t have to earn or even deserve. We use the expression “graced by her presence” to refer to someone who is considerate of others, who makes others feel comfortable and at ease. A gracious host is one who lets people know they are valued by the preparations that he or she makes for a get-together.

Aristotle’s quote, “The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances” speaks to the difficult days we are living through in this time of pandemic. None of the above definitions of “grace” appears to fit the way Aristotle is using the word. Perhaps another meaning of grace, found in the phrase “grace under fire,” which means to remain calm in a stressful situation, comes closest to what Aristotle was describing. But why is the word grace being used? Doesn’t grace have to do with beauty, kindness, compassion, gifts? It doesn’t seem Aristotle was referring to any of these words. Perhaps the meaning of grace as used by Aristotle is not a literal one found in a dictionary, but one we can infer by taking the word’s different meanings and putting them together to include the best of what makes us who we are.

If we “bear the accident of life” that is this terrible pandemic with grace, how would we live our days? Would we do so with a noticeable degree of gratitude for what we have even when we have lost something of what we had before? Would we still be able to find some reason to be cheerful when the news we hear each day makes us afraid? Would we still manage to give purpose and meaning to our daily lives when we feel isolated and alone? Would we still find it within ourselves to think of others when feelings of stress and anxiety make us want to retreat inward? Even if these possibilities don’t exactly fit the meaning of grace as Aristotle used the word, they still seem to me worthwhile goals to try for as the days of living through a pandemic go by.

David James Madden