Can Grace be Attained?

One of my favorite CDs is a recording of a Celtic musical of Peter Pan. A highlight for me is a lovely song-poem which includes the line, "And those who trust shall grace attain."

This got me thinking...what is grace to me? And can it be attained? Can it be bestowed?

Most Christian religions teach that grace is "the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings." I disagree with this completely, because I do not believe in the concept of salvation or that some outside force decides whether you are worthy of blessings. (If you believe, otherwise, you're welcome to continue to believe that. I'm not trying to convince you otherwise!)

My definition of grace is that undefinable connection with Spirit (God, Allah, Universe, whatever your term for a higher power). I believe that this connection can be reached whenever you allow yourself to go deeply within, through prayer or meditation (which to me are the same thing), to that realm of no-thought. That space that is composed of only BEing. When you are in that zone, you are in grace.

And so, in a very real way, I believe that you can attain grace by entering into that "BEing" space. As the song says, when you trust that you can indeed reach that state, and then trust that your experience there is very real, that's where the magic happens.

In my view, in this lovely space of co-creation you tap into your blessings through this state of grace. Blessings are the result of the connection and the inspired action you take, trusting in the creation and the outcome.