Quiet Reflections and Prayers
The longing
to know the deepest
kind of peace
led to questions
and surrenders.
It led to an expanded
view of life
and pain
and love.
It led to my own
deepest heart
and to the quiet prayer
that reached back —
recognized
and honored at last
as my own true
voice.
It became my way
to follow
the quiet prayer
that had led
me through all
experiences.
There was peace
in touching my own
pure essence
and meeting
all that appeared
from that place —
trusting the safety
found in honoring
my own heart,
however shattered
it may have seemed.
From the outside,
the changes
seemed subtle
at first.
But from within,
it was clear
there was
something different
here —
a steady kind
of deepening,
a whisper of peace
where there had been
none,
a contentment
independent of
outer circumstances
and past struggles,
but always connected —
a life unfolding
sweetly
out of the quiet prayer
within my heart.
And there was nothing
subtle about that.
Somehow I got it
that I was moving
in a direction
that wasn’t exactly
where I had wanted
to go.
I had to back up
and look again
from my heart
for whatever it was
I thought I’d been
seeking —
to start over again —
though I had been
trying for so long.
And so I looked
around me —
from exactly where I
stood
and started again
from there.
At a certain point,
the only real
option was to hold
the space within —
to retreat
in surrender
to the quiet prayer
of my heart —
not knowing
how or if
it would affect
anything else.
But it was the only
real option left —
again and again.
The landing became
softer
after a while.
And it didn’t seem
to matter so much
what met me
in that place.
Whatever it was
had to know
the sweetness
of that same
surrender.
I am the space
within my heart,
protected and safe —
free to flow in
any direction
without effort,
without trying
to seek
or learn
or perfect.
I am this —
as I have always
been.
When you reach
a quiet place
and there is
sadness,
when the world
seems a little
too intense
again,
close your eyes
and remember
the softness
of your soul.
It began as
a hint of self-love,
a quiet prayer
passed gently
by one or two
who dared
to risk dwelling
in unexplored places
within the heart.
It continued on
as compassion —
carried carefully
by those who had
discovered,
in their own way,
the pain
and beauty
in holding
a separate perspective
and set of original
experiences
that couldn’t be
shared,
not really —
and the tenderness
in reaching
from this place.
At a certain point
there were no preformed
words —
only the deepening
sense of surrender
to the unfolding
of life
without holding
back —
this flowing love
embracing
more of itself,
naturally —
until it wasn’t clear
exactly
where holding and
letting go
had become
one.
May we find
a place of
stillness within.
And may we
live
from this place.
Amen
Laurie's Notes 