Spiritual Things Matter

Photograph by: K. Alan Lewis

The privacy and clarity of silence
Can cleanse the heart
And heal it more easily and swiftly
Than all the words we so desperately try to find.

Silence gives space to thoughts and images,
Reflecting gently on details
Otherwise lost
In the murky water
Of the noisiness of life.

Silence brings wonder
At life’s meticulous design.
It purifies our surroundings.
Greater yet,
It distills our world within.

All at once we can breathe freely.
Gone is the smothering effect of trying too hard.
Gone is the pressure of fear and pain.

Silence is a great gift to ourselves.
It is a gift we ought at times
Give to others.

~Viola Jaynes

Ten thousand possibilities
To climb the mountain’s height
Formidable and majestic
It stands before my sight.
Strong and equipped I feel,
To wander – day and night if I must,
Finding just the right way
No matter how difficult the path.

I wander, and wander,
Then stumble alone,
Alas the veil of darkness and silence
Has brought me to a state
From which I cannot escape;
Fear and panic, I realize,
Have now become my guides.

Completely alone in the dark -
I feel frightened after all;
Unsure of my way,
For not another soul is here
To rescue me.
It is this utter aloneness
That frightens me the most
Abandoned by all, it seems,
Even by the one who has created me.

Slumped over with exhaustion
I cry out for help
Seeking answers – any answers,
To guide me out of this circumstance.

With the peace and release
Of my own prayers and tears,
I come to understand
A greater power, given freely,
Lies within me -
To decide anew and then create,
A fresh and far better way
To climb that mountain along my way.

~Viola Jaynes