Hopes and Prayers and So Much More

Every Friday I try to write a message of hope, insight, love, gratitude – something positive upon which to reflect during one’s respective day of rest. Being given time to recognize the lessons learned over the prior week, the strength and courage of making it through difficult situations, to acknowledge the love of friends and family, and to count one’s blessings is an extraordinarily divine gift.

For me, this week's view has been a bit murkier than usual.

Yet for some reason, this morning I remembered something my dad told me a few months before he died, and I don’t think he even realized it was such an impactful statement. He said, “I get angry and upset just like everybody else, but when I wake up the next morning it's over. I just can’t hold a grudge, and I don't want to.” What I take away from those words is the reminder that we always have the opportunity to awaken with a blank slate from which to move forward with hope for a better day.

By no means am I suggesting that we go to sleep, wake up and pursue a delusional life of the Stepford variety. And I’m pretty sure that hopes and prayers alone won’t bring about change among a society of corporeal beings with the ability to actively care and stand up for one another. BUT – and this is a big but – light, love and prayers can go a long way to shifting perspective.

So I’m going to use my day of rest to soak in a bathtub full of hope, to pray for all those who are thought of and treated as less than (as well as the people who impose that pain), and that we as members of the human race will radiate light unto the darkness.

While I reflect on how I may contribute to this effort, I will pray that I remain in this space, shining my love wherever, whenever, and with whomever I can.

As the sun and the moon remind us each and every day, we are made of the stuff of stars, the same spark that ignites our own light. May we recognize, reflect and share that light with one another, in whatever form that takes.