we rise

There is a brokenness

out of which comes the unbroken,

a shatteredness

out of which blooms the unshatterable.

There is sorrow

beyond grief which leads to joy

and fragility

out of whose depths emerges strength.

There is a hollow space

too vast for words

through which we pass with each loss,

out of whose darkness

we are sanctioned .... into being.

There is a cry deeper than all sound

whose serrated edges cut the heart

as we break open

.... to the place inside

which is unbreakable and whole,

while learning to sing. "

 Rashani Rea

____________________________________

We always want to “get it together”

It sounds so nice

The idea of finally figuring it out

Whatever “it” is

The idea of getting our thoughts in order

our emotions in check

our bodies whole

of course there is no such thing as stasis

for every brief moment when it feels like

we are where and who and what we want to be

there are a million moments when life unravels

when the earth shakes beneath our feet

and the foundations of our soul are shaken

we are shattered, grieved, wounded

cast into the dark empty place of endings

where loss and failure and loneliness eat at us

until our hearts cry out

and in those moments we die

it is all too much

the pain that wracks our bodies

the anguish that assaults our hearts

the chaos in our minds

and we wonder if we can take one more step

into such moments Sacred comes

perhaps only in such moments

when we have let go, released

when the vastness of it all has driven us to that place

of ultimate struggle

and we find that there is something deeper still

call it grace

call it Love

and having found that deeper place

having found that which is “unbreakable and whole”

that Presence that defines us, and empowers us

we rise

resurrected

newly born

and singing