breath – Carrie's Bench

Deep breaths

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.

Quote: Etty Hillesum
Photo: Sergei Shmigelskii (Pexels)

I am grateful for these words from Jan Richardson. Holy Saturdays are always uniquely quiet. All motion seems to slow or stop. There is a strong desire for connection as the earth still shakes under our feet.

“On this Holy Saturday, I have been thinking about how this is not a day for answers. It is a threshold day, a day that lies between, and so resists any easy certainty. It is a day that invites us to make a space within the weariness, the fear, the ache. It is a day that beckons us to turn toward one another and to remember we do not breathe alone.”

IN THE BREATH, ANOTHER BREATHING

For Holy Saturday

Let it be

that on this day

we will expect

no more of ourselves

than to keep

breathing

with the bewildered

cadence

of lungs that will not

give up the ghost.

Let it be

we will expect

little but

the beating of

our heart,

stubborn in

its repeating rhythm

that will not

cease to sound.

Let it be

we will

still ourselves

enough to hear

what may yet

come to echo:

as if in the breath,

another breathing;

as if in the heartbeat,

another heart.

Let it be

we will not

try to fathom

what comes

to meet us

in the stillness

but simply open

to the approach

of a mystery

we hardly dared

to dream.

Quote: Jan Richardson

from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

Image: “Breath Will Come to the Desolate Bones”

Simply Lent 1…

It is enough to be grateful for the next breath.

some days there may be much to say, others a simple thought -I welcome Lent this year as a time to reflect and remember…

Quote: BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST
Image: unknown

from Gratefulness.org

the state of the world

Someone asked me, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?”
I allowed myself to breathe and then I said,
“What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart.
If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick, and you will not be able to help.”
Yes, there is tremendous suffering all over the world, but knowing this need not paralyze us.
If we practice mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful sitting, and working in mindfulness,
we can try our best to help.

Quote: Thich Nhat Hanh
Photo: Arashiyama, Kyoto (Pinterest)

The quiet of early morning

Breathe deep and take in these quiet moments – the time just before the first bird sings.

The spirit is near but we are often unaware. Even as her offer to encourage and inspire stands ready, we manage to proudly claim this inspiration as something of our own creation.

May you begin this Sabbath with a still and focused breath.