Angels and Archangels...February 4, 2022

When my tumor came, I fell to the ground. It seemed the most appropriate and real and true greeting for this visitor.

But before all that happened...Evan went to college. Of course I was excited for him...but a little brokenhearted too. With worry and wonder about my firstborn in the very big and huge world, I fell to the ground. It seemed the most appropriate and real and true response to my child's leave taking.

Yes, I fell to the ground and looked to the sky, hands folded in prayer.

And I wasn't alone then, for a dear friend asked me to join a prayer group. So I began to sit with these magnificent, brave and beautiful women. For one hour every week we took turns to pray out loud. We chose words and sorted them, dared to speak with hearts laid out, a new way to pray for me.

So when the doctor called with his tangle of words about a mass in my leg, and my sweet son Ben left for college soon after, I knew how to fall to the ground, fold my hands and call out...

...to angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, with Lord Mother Father Creator of all, who wait for us to speak of our wildest dreams and our cruelest pain, to name our desires.

Who whisper to us...

...speak of your sadness and dreams, give us your pleas. Your joy, terror, grief. Your gratefulness too, bringing along laughter. Your tears and your hope, victories and defeats. Do not hold back longing, and yes, even your anger or just a whimper, please.

We want it all.

This whisper calls...

...your prayers can be with others or alone. They don't have to be fancy or magic words. Or even a lot of words, though special words work too. But these angels do not belong to any one or only some. They are wild and free, ready to listen, waiting patiently with their yearning and love for all of us, each one the world over.

On the days we are already on the ground, because they are just that hard. On the days we must remember to bow down, because they are just that good. On our best behaved days and on our worst, gritty and confused ones, when we can't look in the mirror...

...for there is holy in our daring to fall to the ground and look to the sky. Our courage to speak is right and true, as much as any answer even. For the answer isn't a guarantee of anything but love, beyond our understanding. A promise to be with us, always and forever, no matter what happens.

So now every single day, a whisper beckons me to the ground, a most appropriate and real and true response...

...to the gift of one more day.