I hold what is here
with love –
the natural unfolding –
this clear space,
all of this,
including all that is
painful and confusing.
I accept and love
all of it,
as it is.
Quiet Reflections and Prayers
I hold what is here
with love –
the natural unfolding –
this clear space,
all of this,
including all that is
painful and confusing.
I accept and love
all of it,
as it is.
I found comfort
in the small moments of surrender
when I dared to let go
of everything
and stand in the empty space.
There was tenderness
in the gentle way life began
to flow from there.
And so I returned again
to this place –
trading it all for a quiet prayer
and the chance to follow
to where my heart was tuned.
Life had a way of leading
back to the quiet space within –
to the setting down of all
of the tangled up,
unresolved thoughts –
to the difficult step of tossing everything
up to God.
Time and time again I found myself
in a place of too much –
the only clear option being
to return again humbly
to a state of prayer –
to begin again
from there.
And so every experience,
no matter how painful or beautiful,
eventually led back to my heart.
It didn’t matter how long
I put off the inevitable prayer
of surrender.
Every single time I found my way
to that quiet prayer
and the immediate respite in
the instant recentering.
It didn’t matter that much of life
remained messy and parts
of the unfolding story would
most likely bring with them
a tenderness almost too raw to bear.
All of it eventually ended up
in this place.
I learned the value of
tenderness and became willing to
set down many things in exchange for
a deeper connection with life.
I knew without a doubt that
whatever appeared would eventually lead
back to a tender place in my own heart.
And so I became willing to bear the ache
of leftover traces of unhealed and
unresolved experiences —
to be in a place where there are
no guarantees —
to show up in each moment
with a quiet prayer and renewed reverence
for the sacred journey,
however it unfolded.
The transition into tenderness
required delicate footing.
I learned to look a little
more deeply into my surroundings.
Nothing was at it seemed,
but that meant
something beautiful must be
hidden beneath what appeared.
I learned to look a little more deeply
into what was there,
intuitively drawn to remain
in each moment —
no matter what —
determined to find just one
small sign of beauty
when at first glance,
all was dark —
holding each faint whisper of hope —
becoming more determined with each step
to help it to grow.
I vowed to continue on –
settling in a little more deeply –
holding what was right there
in front of me,
as best I could –
embracing each new moment
as a prayer.
I learned to find my way
back to the quiet space
within.
I learned to be okay
with a prayer
and a tiny spark of hope.
And I remembered
to never again let go
of my heart.
And so the essence
of every experience became
a prayer —
a continuous flow of love within
this whispers of truth
that had breathed me
back to life.
The quiet prayer in my heart
continued on
no matter how many times I forgot
to listen.
It was there in the quiet moments
when I dared to gather up all
of the confusion and anxieties
and frustration and ongoing traumas
playing out all around me.
It was there in the aha moments
when I became quiet enough to remember
all I had forgotten to gather up –
all the little bits of hope and the pure
miraculous way they still existed
after everything.
It was there when I remembered
just one small, sweet memory
of the journey –
a time when I seemed to be
completely alone but realized I was not.
In a sea of traumatic memories
and the long list of things lost,
what stood out, if I looked
and listened a little deeper,
was tenderness.