I have a very generous friend
who prays with me every single morning.
As part of our ritual, we do a brief breathing prayer.
While taking deep, slow full body breaths,
we prayerfully receive Love on the inhale
and send out Joy on the exhale.
In my mind,
I envision the letters
L-O-V-E
lighting up one after the other as I inhale
Love
and the letters
J-O-Y
lighting up one after the other as I exhale
Joy.
The beautiful thing about breathing
is that it naturally occurs without my effort.
The breath is always present,
always sustaining, always nourishing,
always working on my behalf.
I simply get to receive it.
In fact, not receiving it (e.g, holding my breath)
is unnatural, effortful, and ultimately harmful.
Like the breath,
Love
is always present,
always sustaining, always nourishing,
always working for justice
and the flourishing of all beings.
Its existence and persistence
requires nothing from me.
I simply get to receive it and get swept up
in its unending, supernatural flow.
When my heart is too battered by oppression
and I can no longer will myself to maintain a soft heart,
I can simply breathe in an
L-O-V-E
that is patient.
When I want to surrender to hatred
after the first or second or third battle,
I can simply breathe in an
L-O-V-E
that survives evil, war, oppression.
When I am beat by the forces of Empire,
I can simply breathe in an
L-O-V-E
that remains when the teargas clears.
When I experience a small victory for justice,
I can simply breathe in an
L-O-V-E
that is still there when the water is protected.
When I want to fight Empire
with the weapons of Empire,
I can simply breathe in an
L-O-V-E
that is kind, not arrogant, not insisting on its own way.
When I am deflated and hopeless,
I can simply breathe in an
L-O-V-E
that makes space for joy and truth
even in the hardest circumstance.
When I have nothing left to give,
I can rest in the permanent realities of
Faith, Hope and Love:
Faith
that the flawed world as we see it
is not all that there is;
Hope
that the next generation
will live in a better world; and
Love
to give us the strength
and motivation to build it.
