Womanhood: Grit and grace

On a recent trip to Central America, I met a group of grandmothers who saw the need for clean water in their extremely impoverished community. They worked for 12 years to gain the funding, government approval, labor, and supplies necessary to install a water tank with an electric pump to supply the much-needed water.

To me, their efforts reflected the qualities of grit and grace. They had such grit that they did not back down when even their own mayor fought against them because they were on the “wrong side” of politics. And they had such grace that they never lost their sense of love for their community or their sense of humor.

I see grit and grace as qualities of Soul, a synonym for God given in the primary text of The Christian Science Monitor’s founder, Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science. She writes, “Soul, or Spirit, is God, unchangeable and eternal” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 120).

Soul is the source of everyone’s uniquely beautiful identity. Because Soul is Spirit, the qualities of Soul that we express are spiritual and therefore “unchangeable and eternal.” These qualities include strength, courage, and resilience, balanced with dignity, poise, and gentleness. For me, that balance of qualities describes womanhood as the “wholehood” that includes both the feminine and masculine qualities.

What does it mean to have spiritual grit? “Grit” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.” The world may have us believe that grit means we need to “grin and bear it” or use willpower to get through challenges, and that grace implies weakness. But these are limited views of these characteristics, which fall far short of their true meaning.

As the Apostle Paul learned through many trials, true strength comes not of our own volition but through our understanding of the ultimate source, God, and the empowering presence of God’s message of love, the Christ. Christ Jesus himself said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).

And Science and Health tells us, “We are all capable of more than we do” (p. 89), and “Grace and Truth are potent beyond all other means and methods” (p. 67). Our capability comes through divine strength and gentleness. The book’s author was an incredible example of the balance of grit and grace that comes through Christ. Despite the hardships of widowhood, having her only child taken from her as she battled illness, and divorce from a philandering husband, Mrs. Eddy was a published author and the founder of both a global religion and a publishing company. This was all at a time before women had the right to vote or unmarried women had the right to own property.

As the founder of this news organization, she wrote, “The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind” (“The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,” p. 353). And this is how she lived her life, too, including her many healings demonstrating God’s ever-present love and all-power.

One wintry day when Mrs. Eddy learned that the well of the farmer who supplied her household’s milk was dry, and the nearby water sources were frozen by the icy New England weather, she responded, “Oh, if he only knew.” A moment later she said, “Love fills that well.”

The next day when the farmer brought the milk, he was overjoyed to report that his well was full of water, even though the weather had not changed. The farmer acknowledged that it was the result of Mrs. Eddy’s prayers, and she gave praise and gratitude to God, the true source of all supply (see “We Knew Mary Baker Eddy,” Vol. 2, pp. 190-191).

Mrs. Eddy’s spiritual grit didn’t allow her to just throw up her hands or be discouraged by challenging circumstances. And the grace she expressed enabled her to see God’s abundant love where others saw limitation or lack. Her grit and grace blessed all those around her.

As we commemorate International Women’s Day, we can recognize and celebrate those spiritual qualities in ourselves, and recognize them in the women and men close to us, and throughout the world. And we can trust that God is continually providing each of us fresh opportunities to bless others through our expression of these qualities.