Have you ever experience this - Some nights waves of weariness beat against our brains, crash against our hearts, wash over our bodies, threatening to erode our best defenses like sand dunes upon the shore. The water is cold, dark and deep. Diversions that have worked in the past - drink, drugs, food, sex, shopping and work - now obscure a dangerous undertow. Nothing seems to hold back the tide. We need someone to throw us a line, to rescue us from drowning in disappointment. When these nights come and I find I'm stranded alone on the beach of faltering belief, I have found refuge in a very centering and comforting prayer, which I get to chanced upon in my early teens by Dame Julian of Norwich, a 13th century English mystic :
"All shall be well,
And all shall be well,
And all manner of things shall be well."
This simple affirmation of faith is especially comforting because it seems to console the dark submerged sadness of the explicable, the unexpressed, the unresolved, the unfair and the undeniable that stalk my soul after I close my eyes. I'll say the prayer over and over again softly, under my breath like a mantra, not trying to understand the meaning of the words because I can't really at that age (12 yrs old). Some mysteries are beyond our comprehension. Some mysteries we will never solve. Never know.
So instead of trying to make sense of it all, I simply let the Spirit of the words sooth my frazzled mind and harried heart until sleep comes. Sometimes we can't make sense of it. Sometimes none of it make sense. Sometimes it just is. But if we can hold on enough for this night to give way to another day, all shall be well, even if it's different from what we had expected. Even if it's different from what we had hoped for and believe with all our hearts would happen. Well, it's Thanksgiving, so we certainly have more than enough to be gratified and grateful about, for ourselves as well as for our love ones. So, give thanks.
"All shall be well,
And all shall be well,
And all manner of things shall be well."
This simple affirmation of faith is especially comforting because it seems to console the dark submerged sadness of the explicable, the unexpressed, the unresolved, the unfair and the undeniable that stalk my soul after I close my eyes. I'll say the prayer over and over again softly, under my breath like a mantra, not trying to understand the meaning of the words because I can't really at that age (12 yrs old). Some mysteries are beyond our comprehension. Some mysteries we will never solve. Never know.
So instead of trying to make sense of it all, I simply let the Spirit of the words sooth my frazzled mind and harried heart until sleep comes. Sometimes we can't make sense of it. Sometimes none of it make sense. Sometimes it just is. But if we can hold on enough for this night to give way to another day, all shall be well, even if it's different from what we had expected. Even if it's different from what we had hoped for and believe with all our hearts would happen. Well, it's Thanksgiving, so we certainly have more than enough to be gratified and grateful about, for ourselves as well as for our love ones. So, give thanks.
DaRkAnGeL'S WoRdS oF WiSdOm :
"There is hope for all of us no matter what happened. Well, anyway, if you don't die, you live through it, day in, day out."
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