Quiet Reflections and Prayers
I found it was
possible to find
our way back
to our hearts.
I found that,
for every single
thing I gave up
along the way,
for every broken dream
and every person
I couldn’t reach,
there was an expansion
of the tender space
I had come to know
as the source
of true peace,
connection,
and happiness.
I wish to reflect
all that is soft,
to offer my love
to all that is not —
to remind us
of the sacredness
of the journey
and the beauty
in the transformation.
— Laurie, What’s Right Here
In this
softened light
and standing firmly
in my heart,
I thought
just maybe being brave
meant stepping back
to peek behind
what seemed to be
so shattered.
Perhaps
we weren’t as broken,
good or bad
or disconnected
as our minds
had made us out
to be.
There was
a turning around —
a softening —
a quiet letting go —
a returning to
my own natural center.
And there,
finally.
was peace.
Because I dared
to stop
to hear
the faintest
whisper
of a prayer,
I sensed
the time had come
to take the bravest
move of all —
to see that,
in the end,
winning and being right
was exchanged
for words
from a higher place
and the courage
to wait for them
to form.
All things became
infused with
and flowed out of
this quiet prayer —
this same subtle,
inaudible whisper
I strained so hard
to hear —
not so long ago.
Having found
my way back
to this sacred space,
this unspoken
silent prayer
I had longed for
in my heart
and in the world
around me
for so long,
there was really
nothing else to do
but continue on —
to hold this space
and to be it.
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.
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.
And so
I loved
and feared
the silence —
until there was
nothing else.
Laurie's Notes 