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Did you know I sold jewelry for nearly 13 years before starting Grace Ceremonies? Yes, I’m a jewelry hound, just like my grandmother was before me. I worked in handcrafts galleries and jewelry studios, learned all about precious metals and gemstones and jewelry fabrication, and even became certified as an Applied Jewelry Professional by the Gemological Institute of America. Not until my (very unexpected) calling to become a minister did I consider any career other than opening my own gallery of jewels. When I was in seminary, I realized I wasn’t meant to sell couples their engagement rings and wedding bands… I was meant to tell their love stories, and to witness as they exchanged the vows those bands accompanied.  Kamila Harris Photography I wasn’t meant to help select the perfect “push present,” or order custom pieces with birthstones or initials… I was meant to honor the journey into parenthood, and to acknowledge the profound ways our children change us.
I still love jewelry, and I’m glad it can symbolize and celebrate these occasions. But I feel so fortunate to have been given this calling – and to have followed it – because I can’t imagine doing anything better with my life than this.
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Ever wonder why I became a minister? I know some of my friends do! How did I go from ten years managing small businesses to attending an Interfaith seminary? If you have twenty minutes, the talk I gave at Unity in the Pioneer Valley will explain it.  Excerpted: "Reverend Carol’s message that Sunday was about listening for our soul’s purpose; for the thing we’re here on Earth to do. Now, I knew that working in a jewelry store probably wasn’t my soul’s highest calling, but it also wasn’t something I’d given a lot of thought... "It’s funny – looking back, I can hardly remember anything specific about Reverend Carol’s talk that morning, except that, as she spoke, I felt this tremendous yearning inside me. I can’t really describe it… but it seemed like my heart wanted to leap out of my chest!" Listen now to the 20-minute talk. Excerpted: “Conversations With God says all human actions are motivated at their deepest level by fear or love. I chose love when I answered the call; I chose to follow my heart. It’s important to say, though, that when I talk about the heart, it’s not the physical heart or the emotional heart I mean, but the spiritual heart.
"In Sanskrit it’s called the hridayam, which means “essence.” Quaker’s call it “the still, small voice of God.” Ram Dass calls the spiritual heart the “heart-mind,” but he explains that you can’t get to the heart-mind through the rational mind. So when I talk about following my heart, I mean there was a shift in my awareness, from who I think I am, to “I Am.” |
Rev. Hannah GracePoetry and Musings of an Interfaith Minister on the Journey of a Lifetime.Categories
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