Hi, need to submit a 1750 words paper on the topic Spiritual Life. Grace, according to Peck is something that originates outside of human consciences that pushes man to confront their weaknesses and b

Hi, need to submit a 1750 words paper on the topic Spiritual Life. Grace, according to Peck is something that originates outside of human consciences that pushes man to confront their weaknesses and become something greater than they were, and in this way, it aids in their spiritual growth. He states that it, “somehow pushes us to choose the more difficult path whereby we can transcend the mire and muck into which we are so often born” (266). In this way, Peck views adversity or the unpleasant circumstances which some find themselves in, not as unfortunate happenstance, but as a way to grow and to become something greater than they could have been otherwise. Examples of this can be seen all over our world today. People, who have been born into poverty and arise to become millionaires, people who come from abused homes only to become world-famous physiologists. One such famous person, who was born into the most unpleasant circumstances and has arisen to become the wealthiest and most powerfully influential women in America, is Oprah. After taking a look at Oprah’s early life, the testing and trials she went through, her transcendence, and the lessons she learned, we can accurately view Peck’s version of grace, or the idea of a ‘force’, in action.

First, we will take a look into Oprah’s early life, the so-called ‘mire and muck’ years. She was born to an unwed teenage mother in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her mother could not afford to care for her without work, so she left Oprah in the care of her grandmother and went to find work in the North. Oprah’s grandmother lived on a primitive farm, but she managed to teach Oprah how to read at the early age of three and took her to church faithfully. Oprah excelled at her grandmother's house, and would even recite scriptures in front of the church, much to the congregation's delight. When Oprah was six her mother, who had finally found steady employment as a housemaid, took her to live in Milwaukee. Her mother had to work long hours at her new job so this left Oprah alone, most of the time, in their inner-city apartment. It was alone in this apartment that Oprah was reportedly sexually abused by many male relatives and other visitors until she finally ran away from home at the age of thirteen.