"Stand under the stars and say what you like to them. Praise them, question them, pray to them, and wish upon them. The universe will not answer. But it will have spoken." -Timothy Ferris                                                                                                                              

Grief often strikes without warning. The accompanying heartache of loss penetrates the core of our being. Attempts to fill the void are misguided. Our words fall empty in shattering silence.

 There is a sacred necessary pause that follows endings that is part of the natural rhythm in life. Just like the rise and fall of the sun and moon, the ebb and flow of the sea, the change of seasons; life flows on the movement of our breath.

 We need time to reverence what has been, before we can let go to embrace the new. Sometimes, words just won’t do. Be still and let the silence seep down into your bones of awareness. Remember always, and pass on the stories to honor all who have helped lay our foundation.

We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity
For a further union, a deeper communion

-T.S. Elliot

 The following poem by Rumi reflects an inner knowing. May we resist the societal forces that deny the need to be still and instead live this kind of hospitality.

 The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

May we offer up a deeply personal prayer of silence. 

~liz Sorensen Wessel

 Note: polyprint watercolor by ~liz