A Life of Grace, Not an Easy Life

Original Post in July 2002, “The Wirth Report”

If you're alive right now, then you're being bombarded by messages of convenience and immediacy. Together these forces merge into a power river of energy that seeks to bring us into its flow. An easy life - from work to love to home to recreation - is a stated goal tossed about in casual conversation, therapy, prayer, and certainly with our financial planners. Easy - as used in the modem sense - is correlated to a life without risk, challenge, uncertainty, pain, hurt, or loss. We even hope that when death knocks at the door that we go easy into the night.

But I ask you to give up your tight-fisted agreement that easy is the path of right choice. Let's just look a little deeper into the subject. When our inquiry is complete, you can always pick up where you left off.

The irony is that an easy life is distinctly stable and stationary, devoid of variety (ups and downs).

You don't move much. You don't grow as you're capable of growing. The unyielding focus (and energy use) is dedicated to securing an easy life, and then maintaining it.

We've all dreamed or fantasized about this sort of existence. But in the process, we've romanticized the state of"easiness." We've robbed it of its shadows - otherwise known as boredom and meaninglessness. You see, when you choose easy at all costs, your Soul's calling and life's purpose/s are often thrust into the background.

If you're skeptical, just look around your own life. Who do you know who has it easy? Maybe they're from a wealthy family or they've invested well, or they've got a high profile-big salary job, or they're one of those beautiful people, or they haven't any "big" responsibilities. There are tons of these people walking around easy street who are miserable, unfulfilled, complaining, and judgmental. And they wouldn't think twice about giving up their cushy existence for anything.

But let’s look at another option for how we can approach and deal with life. Grace - seemingly effortless movement that is skilled at identifying a proper course - enlists challenges and change as comrades and allies. The reality is that grace seeks an abode in your Soul. Chaos can be a Sacred Calling to evict an “Easy Street” mentality from your human temple.

Now, it will take some effort to keep yourself from getting caught up with ideas of easy living. From the get-go, perspective and choice are your guides. You deserve a life of grace. And it’s OK if you’re not sure how to get there. Just remember “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother” (Kahil Gibran).

Life may not be feeling very easy right now and the energy flowing around you may be full of negativity and hopelessness. People have questions about work stability, are feeling the weight of conflict happening across the world, and feel the heavy tension in our political system. For many, especially LGBTQ youth and immigrants from around the world are facing real concerns about safety, access to care, and being seen as fully human. 

In moments like this, it makes sense that we’d want things to feel easier. However, the pursuit of “easy” can quietly become a kind of holding pattern. Not because ease is wrong, but because when we organize our lives around avoiding discomfort at all costs, we also begin to avoid growth, depth, and meaning. We narrow our world in an effort to feel safe within it.

And over time, something starts to feel off. Whether it’s through restlessness or disconnection, we can start to feel as if life is passing us by rather than being lived.

What the original piece points toward is something else entirely: Grace. What is grace though?

In a world that often feels reactive and divided, choosing grace can look surprisingly simple:

• It might mean staying present in a conversation that feels uncomfortable instead of shutting down.

• It might mean continuing to show up for others, especially those whose rights and dignity are being challenged.

• It might mean acknowledging your own fear or fatigue without letting it define your next step.

Ease means avoiding, while Grace focuses on your locus of control, asking “What can I do here?” There are moments in life that call us forward, not into ease, but into participation with care and courage.

If you look around, you’ll see people answering that call every day. People advocating, protecting, standing alongside others, even when it would be simpler to turn away. That kind of engagement doesn’t come from a commitment to ease. It comes from something deeper.

It comes from alignment. You don’t have to have everything figured out to begin living that way. You don’t have to eliminate doubt. As Kahil Gibran wrote, “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” Both can exist. Both can guide you. So if life feels uncertain right now, you’re not alone in that. 

You don’t need an easy life.

You deserve a life that moves.

A life that responds.

A life shaped by grace.