In The Bleak: Hope & Darkness
Practice of Presence:
Inhale, then exhale.
Inhale, then exhale.
Notice the miracle of your breath,
Consistent even when your soul can grasp air no more
[breathe as long as you need]
As you breathe, consider the breath of God breathing life into Adam. The sheer intimacy of it.
As you breathe, consider the breath Mary gasped when she gazed upon the angel. The confusion, the fear, the glory of it.
As you breathe, consider the breath Jesus cried when he was pulled from Mary’s body. The helplessness and the hopefulness of it.
A Scripture:
Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
A Thought:
Darkness cloys at the edges, pulling you to the hidden forest within yourself. Despair hovers in the trees. The leaves shake in the brittle wind. The stars are covered by clouds. Voices carry on the breeze, whispers of how futile it is to go on. You fall under their prophecy of death and cling to the earth in wait.
When will the light dawn?
This is the brutal and beautiful thing about hope: it is only necessary in the darkness. Hope does not sustain us in times of certainty and abundance, but in times of suffering and despair. To hope means to wait, with a daring belief in goodness to come.
And this waiting, often, is painful. It is vulnerable to hope and yet it is necessary to survival. Where hope is lost, death is won. You lay on the cold, hard earth and cry “when will the light dawn?” because you dare to believe it will.
You look to the sky. A star lights up to guide you.
———
The womb is dark and devoid of light. Unseen to the human eye, in it is a blastocyst. Over time this becomes an embryo. Then a zygote. It is the size of a poppy seed. It is a pinprick of light in a space of pure darkness. A thrill of Hope to come.
And the weary world rejoices.
A Reading:
Hope is nocturnal
It comes from the light
But does not belong there
Preferring the darkness
To sharp brightness
For it has no purpose
Where hearts will believe
Happily what they see
So it makes a home
In the deep shadows
Where it waits to be found
By those who need it most