Here lies a clearing in the woods where nothing grows. The ground, stripped of its breath, cried out one last time and never spoke again. I listen to the silence and allow myself to become empty. My reaction is not one of repulsion - I let the stillness hold me.
Absence bestows wisdom that many are unwilling to let in. Teach me how to be empty - not barren, but open.
Simone Weil writes that attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. I often find myself striving, reaching, grasping out at the world, trying to conceptualise every minute detail. I lose myself. Allow me to soften, and attend to a world that bears no name.
We are led to believe that the sacred would arrive in light - in ecstasy and joy. But here, in the quiet ache of the earth, is where it is felt most. Attend and let the emptiness in, for the sacred comes to those who do not demand it. Become small enough to hold it.
Suffering hollows us. It creates a clearing within our own inner gardens. Let the silence linger. Do not rush to fill it, for something sacred is waiting for you - just beyond your grasp, patient as moss, gentle as light on rock.
