What is grace?

​As Christmas and the year’s end approaches, I despair at the state of the world. Wars of unimaginable horror in two main arenas, (today’s news reports that 20,000 Palestinians have been killed), hunger and starvation, drought and (un)natural calamities corrode whole countries; volcanoes erupt, and earthquakes wreak destruction.
And, Covid still lurks in the wings.

We in Australia think we’ve been hard done by this year, with the high cost of living being difficult to deal with.
Also, the disappointing referendum concerning recognition of First Nations People was demolished, thanks to a pliant media and a nay-saying Opposition Leader.

But our ‘afflictions’ hardly register on the scale of global suffering.
And yet there is a whiff of depression emanating from many news bulletins and social media posts.

In what should be considered a safe and ‘civilised’ country (ours), the reported level of aggression exhibited in such incidents as road rage is at an all-time high, and we are told that youth crime is ‘out of control’.
 
Not even mentioning the real — and possibly worst and most urgent — problem facing mankind, alarming climate change effects and the inability, or refusal, of world leaders to fully address, and therefore, take steps to alleviate it.
 
So…in attempts to find a more positive attitude and to seek a glimmer of hope for the future, I recently borrowed a newly popular book from the library, titled, “Bright Shining, how grace changes everything”, written by Julia Baird. I wondered if reading it might lead me and others to a happier frame of mind.
 
Suspecting the author has lifted the title from the words from the song/hymn, ‘Amazing Grace’, she inclines towards — and emphasises — what she describes as ‘grace— and how ‘it changes everything’. (‘Changes’ in a commendatory way, I assumed).
Well, that sounded positive…and, for a brief time I tried to attach the feeling and attitude of what is termed grace to how to think — whether relating to how I dealt with others, or how I viewed the world and local ‘situations’, soon finding that (as the book’s blurb states): “Grace is both mysterious and hard to define…” 

Searching various definitions of grace from different dictionary sites revealed differing interpretations; none of which seems to match the author’s positive and affirming view.
I did find a quote, attributed to Aristotle, which stated,
“The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.”  That seems right, I thought. But, still, how to define ‘grace’?
Then I recalled Ernest Heminway’s quote: “Courage is grace under pressure.”
Mmmm, perhaps that’s it.

But I still couldn’t see a positive way to deal with the negativity and sombre tone of the past year. I searched for answers to how we could cope with the onslaught of truly horrible world happenings and the troubles, sorrows, needs and sicknesses that confront us.

Browsing through Merriam-Webster word definitions, I came across the word, ‘benevolence’ and it seems to ‘click’.
Benevolence means ‘disposition to do good’ and is related to ‘an act of kindness’.
Perhaps I have found some sort of answer to the negativity that is surrounding us.
So, perhaps ‘benevolence’ is the better attitude, if we can’t define grace.
 
Really, we can only live our own lives. Let’s be benevolent as we do so.
 
Benevolent also means caring, compassionate, generous, and humane.
 
By the way, happy Christmas wishes to everyone.