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hi mary you wrote, in part: >I have always been a bit annoyed by the saying, >"There but for the grace of God, go I". >It seems to arrogantly assume >that those who are healthy or financially well off >are somehow superior to those who are not >and that God has rewarded the more "deserving" with >health, wealth and happiness. >This, of course, is not true but that hidden thought >causes us to separate ourselves inwardly >from the handicapped and the poor. >Outwardly, we may be compassionate and giving, >but inside we are thinking, "I'm different". >Then one day we find we are not different at all. wow i couldn't think of a more different interpretation of that phrase if i tried for a month of sundays! my background with the expression is this: my father, who had 'come of age' in the Great Depression in Toronto, enjoyed modest professional and financial success while i knew him whenever he saw a 'bum' or some other poor soul on the street he would say the words "there, but for the grace of god, go i" i know that he meant it deeply, in all humility and in gratitude he had seen and experienced dire poverty and knew that his good fortune, relative to the poor soul's was pure chance, a gift from grace, and not based on any superior ability or quality however, recently i have noticed that the expression can be used in different ways as well not just when i see a person in a wheelchair there, but for the grace of god, go i but also when i see a person in a private jet there, but for the grace of god, go i in both situations i can look at the other person with empathy not condescending pity not consuming envy in both situations i can look at myself with empathy too, plus maybe a little joy, as walking in grace janet a new voice: http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/index.htm pwp event calendar: http://newww.com/cgi-bin/do_cal?c:pwpc 51/10 - endocarb/selegiline/fluoxetine - [log in to unmask] janet paterson