Naming Grace. Sailing with Grace. This seems an appropriate topic following the, for me, very disappointing election results. 

When we purchased the boat she was named Dreamer, a name that did not resonate with us. Sounded a bit adolescent, an age neither of us misses nor would choose to return to. What sort of name would be more appropriate to our stage in life, our ambitions for journeying with the boat, and something about personal values, philosophy, spiritual beliefs.

We each made lists of names and compared notes and brainstormed off of each other’s ideas.  Pearl, Blue Pearl, Compass Rose 2, Rescue, Sanctuary, Home, Maggie, Audette, Jewel….there were many more now gone from memory and we can’t find the various lists. David came upon grace, Amazing Grace, gracious, graceful.

Grace – elegance, beauty, poise, blessing, kindness; grace of God, living in grace; referencing dance, how we’ve managed to compose our lives over many years without specific, conscious plan and goal, ….  The boat IS elegant with lovely, sweeping lines. She is sturdy and strong. We are her keepers, her stewards, as she is ours, keeping us safe in the water.

David and I are well aware of our long and hard work (David with his numerous skills and me with mine) and the contributions of our ancestors that make our position of relative wealth, good health, and privilege possible. We are grateful. We know so many people who have worked equally hard (or harder)  who are not as blessed with good fortune and good health and privilege.  

Grace seems to fit where we are now and where we hope to remain...”in a state of...in the presence of... living through/with/in...grace” 

So, we named the boat and honor the grace with which we are blessed.