When we feel
most lost
and disconnected,
hold us steady.
Remind us we are
rooted firmly
and held
in a deeper place.
Amen
Hidden Within
I learned
to ride the waves
of this life.
I learned not to try
so hard to hold on
to any particular thought
or feeling or form.
And I understood
the beauty within
this natural flow
that is me.
In This Place
I stand still
in my heart —
in honor of
all that remains
unhealed in me
and in the world.
I honor
the mystery,
the sacred journey,
and the enduring
peace in this place.
I offer
this quiet prayer
as others have done
for me.
Amen
Reminders of a Gentler Path
Help us to honor
and set down
the layers of stories
carried for so long
in our minds.
Help us to listen
and speak with
our hearts
again —
to know
the tenderness
in the silent spaces
we tried so hard
to fill
and in the pain
we tried to
so hard
to sort out.
May our own
unfolding steps
be reminders
of a gentler path.
Amen
Gently
May I meet
this world
and the noise
within
with the grace
of knowing
all parts of myself
and the silence
of my own
deepest heart —
underneath.
When I am tempted
to go a different way,
lead me gently
back.
Amen
Safe
I thought
I wanted to be
understood
or fixed.
But when it really
got down to it,
I wanted only
to find a place
where it was
safe
just to be me.
Always
This pain
you feel
is not separate
from the pain of
the world.
But it does not
define who or what
or where you are.
You must keep
searching.
Don’t look only
for relief
or some explanation
or label
to describe
what is on the surface.
Don’t look
to the world
for this.
You may find
these kinds
of answers.
But they will be
surface answers.
Look deeper.
Keep searching
until your heart
begins to speak
louder.
Always listen
to your heart,
even if it seems
so subtle that you
have to strain
just to feel some kind
of faint whisper.
It will
become louder.
May it lead you
always.
Amen.
Nothing Else
And so
I loved
and feared
the silence —
until there was
nothing else.
Forever
When we reach the place where there are no more words, I will sit with you. And I will wait. And I will hold a different kind of prayer, the one that comes from our deepest hearts — the one whispered to my own soul in my darkest hour. And I will become this silent prayer that listens and vows to hold this place in me and in you — forever. Amen.
At the Bottom of a Prayer
At times,
the silence
was painfully
subtle.
But the reflections
that flowed
out of this place
were tender
and led so sweetly
back to this silent
space —
at the bottom
of a prayer.
Laurie's Notes 