It is often said that action and grace are two polarities of spirituality.
The action would then be the setting in motion initiated to pierce through the veil of illusions and approach reality.
Action would then include practice as we understand it in Zen.
Grace would be divine action in the broadest possible sense because nothing is broader than God.
Everything that is said about God is never God.
Language is unfit to encapsulate God.
It is impossible even to talk about God and, ultimately, silence is always the space to which we are called.
Should these two poles of action and grace be reconciled ?
Should you choose sides ?
Wouldn’t it be only in our minds, speeches and perceptions that these would appear as two poles ?
If one expands, perhaps all that is meant by grace is actually divine action (as I hinted at the beginning of this post, as I was looking for my words to reflect grace, they were expressed in terms of action.)
And all that we think of as action, practice, is in reality a deeper grace, a grace that we offer to ourselves, stemming from the deep strata towards those where we practice stands.
All our setting in motion, all our practice, our action would then be a profound grace.
Thus, the answer to the question “where does this action come from, this setting in motion, this practice ?”, Is the same as the answer to the question where grace comes from.
And, just as one might conclude that everything is practice, we can henceforth affirm, as a perfect alternative to this first conclusion, that all is grace.
©FJ May 2022 —
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Notes & Silence 
Again, I would avoid your terminology. Grace is too often reduced to meaning acceptance of a certain theological position – the convert as a « trophy of grace ».
It is, also, the name of one of my sisters-in-law. There is, maybe, a reason she was not named « Patience ».
Either way, however, if deity is all-encompassing, it must follow that all is within deity – all being and action.
A position that holds its own difficulties, but I assume that is where your thought process is heading in this post.
It also follows that nothing is outside of deity.
Now, there is a thought with which to play…
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I know you do not have an extreme fondness for this term of grace.
I understand, and share your reluctance,
as long as you mean it in a « trophy grace » way.
I use it as GRAtuité (French word) (as what comes for free : without any reason or value/ achievement explaining it….)
Precisely : what you did nothing to deserve, but comes anyway.
Grace as in : the initiate move leading to gratitude…
GRAce : From GRAtuité to GRAtitude
As for your sister-in-law this would be such an impossible name for a French person…
We do hear it though, here and there from people brainwashed by US TV Programs….
BUt, essentially, it means ‘FAT’.
There certainly are better ways to highlight the graceful aspects a delicate woman may shine than naming her Fatty.
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🤣
Pardon the emoji, but it does picture my reaction.
She certainly is not fat. None of that family come into that category.
Not sure I’d call her « graceful » either…
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oh…i was not saying that with any reference to your Sister-in-law.
I certainly would not dare to.
Still, I hope she does not read those lines.
Though I know British people are much more prone to self-mockery (and sometimes raise this discipline to the level of a national sports) than we are on this side of the sea.
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Don’t worry. You gave me the best laugh of the morning – and I very much doubt she’ll be among those who read either of our musings.
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Who know ?
God works in mysterious ways.
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