Quiet Reflections and Prayers
I honor all
that has been
dishonored,
misunderstood
or misinterpreted.
I hold this
silent prayer —
that we will
always find our way
back to what is
most pure.
I hold the place
in me
that remains unhealed —
as a gesture of hope —
as proof
that it is possible
to be the unfolding
sacred journey
and wholeness itself —
together.
I offer
this prayer
to my deepest heart
and yours.
Amen
I found peace
in knowing,
without doubt,
that I am
more than what
can be seen
or measured
or labeled
in any way.
I found strength
in standing in
my own story,
honoring stories
of self and others
without needing
to be only that
And so I continued on —
reaching always
for the place
that was most healed —
settling for
nothing less.
There came a time
for the setting down
of seeing only
the surface,
when the call
to listen
to silent prayers
of our hearts
and my own reaching
for truth
could no longer
be ignored.
And so I let go
of tightly held
ideas of how
life should be
and began
to show up
as I was,
as it was,
trusting in the
pull toward wholeness,
however it appeared
on the surface.
When the world
becomes noisy
and our own
quiet prayers
seem most far,
remind us
of the love
that is always
in our hearts
and the strength
found in holding
this love
above all else.
Amen
There was still pain
as I found myself anchored
more deeply
in my heart.
But there was a tenderness
that came from
one small knowing smile,
one tiny miracle
reminding me
of what I had longed for
for so long —
the experience of
enough.
Little by little,
I stopped believing
in the stories
of the mind
until one day
I turned around
and searched for
that place in me
where I used
to struggle against
my own self —
where I could be
knocked off-center
by any outside force —
that place that sent me
searching desperately
time and time again
for another someone
or another something
to address
our separateness
and fill the emptiness.
But on this day,
I realized I had
set it all down
in exchange for
the one continuous,
never-ending
prayer of my heart.
There were moments
when I didn’t know
how I would
keep going.
There was pain
and loneliness
and rejection.
But I found
inside of me
this tiny spark
of hope
that refused
to give up
or settle for
anything less than
the purity of love
in the very center
of our hearts.
And so I hold
this place for you —
forever.
Amen
I found
compassion came
out of a
quiet prayer,
the empty space
that once held
only fixed ideas
of how this life
should be
and kept reaching
until it remembered
how to hold
all of it.
When there are
no words
to express —
when what is
most real
can’t be reached,
speak with your
heart anyway,
I will feel
the message.
Amen
Once I vowed
to hold
this empty space
for as long
as it took —
until something
beautiful appeared.
That was before
I realized it was
this empty space
and this holding
that is most sacred
and beautiful.
Laurie's Notes 