Grace as Potential

First day of a new school year... Not a Western phenomenon but certainly a Western obsession. Some face the day with knotted stomachs, while others enjoy a Type A adrenaline rush toward over-achievement. No matter the individual response, collectively it is a rite of passage, more substantial than New Year's for change resolution. Lived now vicariously through daughters, grandchildren and university students, I cannot refuse the growing connection for me of first days with grace. Perhaps due to a better grasp of grace's saving grip on me, I detect grace in every moment of potential. How often we think 'If only...', 'I would have...', 'I'd give anything if...' Grace secures another chance, another first day of school--endlessly. Enormous potential resides in first days, and grace extends potential in every breath we enjoy.