WINTER SOLSTICE

Who is going to hold a candle 

to lighten your way home?

Who’s heart is mature enough 

to embrace the presence of pain?

Will you rise up, no matter 

how low you fell 

or how deeply you failed?

Will you find a way to forgive again

and again?

Da tariki, tariquat.

In the darkness there is path.

You are this path.

In the center of the storm

we deepen the circles of our attention.

In emptiness 

we cultivate compassion.

In silence

we learn the art of companionship.

Tending to the warm fire 

inside your own heart 

with grounded care

humble sincerity.

Tending to the warm fire 

in the circle of your friends

feeding the web of love and interbeing.

Prayer is the bridge 

between longing and belonging.

I long as I pray for us to sense

that we’ve always belonged here

we’ve never left

we’re always in the right place

always safe.

The present moment doesn’t have to be 

a war or a test.

Present moment is your gate to surrender.

Come Home to Rest.

picture: Thomas Blackshear