Such a nebulous entity, grace. Oh, I’ve studied this concept, meditated on it, even taught lessons about it.

But I sense grace in a new way in this morning’s lovely mountain snowfall, whitening every tiny twist and turn of each branch and twig and leaf. The scene mesmerizes me, tweaks my imagination, calms me somehow.

May grace seep into your life like that today, I emailed a friend going through frightening health difficulties. That’s what I wish for her, grace filtering into the cracks of her life, bringing gifts she can see and realize, even momentary, fleeting ones.

And grace to accept those gifts. Not pie-the-sky grace, but the kind that opens her to the moment, to the reason-defying offerings all around us. Grace that tells her nothing, including our worst fears, escapes the Father’s notice.

Above our bathroom mirror sit two little wooden plaques. One says simply, JOY, and one reminds me to Give thanks with a grateful heart. This morning I thought how they embellish each other, like the sparkles on a snow-covered tree when the sun shines through.

The dictionary boasts complicated labels for grace, but maybe I’ll stick with this simple word picture from nature: snowflakes falling, wafting, thickening, joining together in a wonder world of white.

…snow invading spaces that seemed closed even to light.

Snow changing everything.