Grace-sufficiency

A Reflection on the Second Reading for July 4th, 2021:
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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2 Corinthians
12.7-10

Brothers and sisters: Considering the exceptional character of the revelations, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

Self-sufficiency. What a noble goal.


Until well into my thirties, I aspired to be self-sufficient. I used to think that being able to achieve all things by dint of my own will, wits, and energy was proof that I had grown in strength and maturity. I thought: self-sufficient people are successful people, slow to ask for favours (because it is better to do with less or without than to be beholden to someone else). Needing others is a sign of weakness. When successful people are forced by circumstances to ask for a favour, they are quick, careful, and able to return the favour. Self-sufficient people do not owe anybody anything. Self-sufficient people do not need charity.


I could not have been more wrong.


In my fifties, I have finally started to grow up and accept what life has taught me: that I will never achieve my best life if I glorify self-sufficiency. I need others, and I’ve been foolish to think otherwise. When have I ever produced gasoline to drive my car or raised sheep for the wool to knit my own sweater? It’s clear that I need others for basic provisions. 


But here’s the bit about self-sufficiency that used to really stick in my craw: I need others for more than basic provisions. I need them to help me. If I am to succeed at work, I need the firm and gentle guidance of my colleagues. If I am going to be a good parent, I need someone to model that for me and to coach me when I don’t know what I’m doing. If I’m going to grieve in a healthy way, I need someone to accompany me through that dark time. In all things, I need to admit that I am less than self-sufficient. I need others.


(Now, I know all this in theory. No one would ever say that I’m an arrogant arse. But, when it comes to the expectations I set for myself, I have to admit that they are high and that I have a deeply rooted tendency to look first to myself to achieve what I am expected to do.)


So, having admitted that I’m not sufficient in myself, what more do I need to face and overcome life’s challenges?


Saint Paul says there’s only one thing: God’s grace — the freely given, unmerited favour and love of God. It alone is sufficient. Full stop.


Despite a lifetime of patting myself on the back for being competent, it has been God’s grace that has allowed me to reach goals I would never have reached on my own: to be peaceful after the death of a loved one, to live with anxiety, to stick out my foot and take a step forward when I cannot see the ground ahead of me.


At last, I am learning to go first to God, accepting that everything good in me is from God. No longer self-sufficient, I embrace dependence on grace as the real mark of maturity.




Donna Davis

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