There are two national languages in Haiti, French and Creole. The most commonly spoken language is Creole, with the school curriculum in French. There are similarities between the two languages but having no French language experience whatsoever, I find it difficult to distinguish between the two. Haitians often mix French into their daily Creole conversations which is where I came across "Grace de Dieu", French for "Grace of God".
I hear these words every time I ask one of the national school workers, "Koman ou ye? Koman famni ou ye?" (How are you? How is your family?). They respond with something like "Famni m byen Grace de Dieu" (My family is good, by the grace of God). Last week I saw the words Grace de Dieu artistically painted on a tap-tap (the most common form of transport in Haiti); it got me thinking about the meaning of these words to the Haitian people and their culture.
The Haitian people (except for those I teach!) have so little, but everything they have they are thankful for. Moreover, everything they have they attribute to the Grace of God. What humility! To acknowledge who you are before God, the One who holds the universe in His hands, is to humbly say "God, I am a mere mortal, not worthy of anything you give me. I don't deserve good things from you, a Holy God. I cannot earn or attain anything from you, yet still you choose to pour out gifts of grace over me.... daily!"
Through their humility, dependence on God and gratitude for life, the Haitian people have shown me my lack of gratitude and the pride I possess. How often do I acknowledge God as the source of all that I have? How often do I remember to give thanks, apart from saying the ritual of "grace" at meal times? Most of us in the Western world attribute our success, our wealth, our education and our profession as "the work of our own hands", as if we are god of our own lives and in control of all that happens. I'm not denying that determination and hard work contributes to one's success; it certainly does! I encourage all of my students to work diligently and to value the opportunity they have to learn. But failing to acknowledge that the opportunities we've been given are by the Grace de Dieu is to be conceited.
I believe the gratitude of the Haitian people is a result of the hardships they've had to endure. They are a resilient people who have suffered great loss. Yet they still find reasons to be thankful, reasons to smile and a reason for joy! On my first visit to Haiti it was these characteristics that endeared the Haitian people to me.
Last week a wise friend said to me, "to see our own brokenness is a gift because it's then that we see our need for restoration". Likewise to see ourselves for who we are, our frail humanity, is a gift. It's then that we see our need for God and His undeserved favor; Grace de Dieu.
