Today’s Prayer to Passage will be from the book “And There Was Light: Autobiography of Jaques Lusseyran, Blind Hero of the French Resistance” by Jaques Lusseyran.

Today I pray, “Dear God, Today was a family celebration of my grandmother’s 90th Birthday. My father’s mother raised me in many ways, as I grew up in the countryside of a rural farming community, my grandmother’s home was the only home in sight when I left my home as a child. She spent countless hours with me when my parents called upon her for her stewardship and care. And today, we honored her 90 years of life. It is a blessing to be able to know my grandmother. And I am blessed to know two. Both my father’s mother and my mother’s mother played a significant role in raising me to become the woman I am today. In her 90 years, it is her grace that has been the most remarkable. She taught me what it means to be a woman of grace. And this will be ever with me, reflected into future generations. Her legacy is indeed the legacy of the world and of the planet. (Happy Birthday, Grandma. I love you.)
Amen.”

Following my prayer, I held the closed book in my hands and opened it to reveal this passage:

“I could no longer afford to be jealous or unfriendly, because, as soon as I was, a bandage came down over my eyes, and I was bound hand and foot and cast aside. All at once a black hole opened, and I was helpless inside it. But when I was happy and serene, approached people with confidence and thought well of them, I was rewarded with light.”
—JAQUES LUSSEYRAN

It is possible to imagine that my grandmother’s grace served purposes of peace on earth. This intrigues me. And even my grandmother’s mother, my great grandmother, passed on this grace to her daughter… who passed it on to her son… who passed it on to his daughter, me. This is what makes our ancestors fascinating. Grace through the generations. Peace for future generations. This is a wonder of wonderment! This is infinity. This is the reward of light.

“We have more ability than willpower, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible.”
—FRANCOISE DE LA ROUCHEFOUCAULD