Each Breath

Loving God,

We pause in the stillness to rest for a moment, to quiet ourselves so that we can feel what stirs within us.

Each breath draws us closer to the pulse of life and with each exhalation we make room for something new.

May we find in this gathering the comfort of those who care.

May we encounter patience along our growing edges and compassion in our most tender spots.

Here may we find the inspiration and encouragement we need to face our challenges and nurture ourselves.

And in the presence of suffering across the globe may we redouble our efforts to practice kindness where we are, with the hope that the light of our actions travels like the light of faraway stars.

May our gestures of compassion and generosity seed possibility.

May we travel humbly with one another, choosing reconciliation over resentment as we try to live right-sized.

When life presses in and shifts us off balance, when pain assails us, when frustration mounts, may the rhythm of our breath steady us and bring us back to a place of gratitude.

  —-  Leaf Seligman

The Rev. Leaf Seligman is the minister of First Parish Church Unitarian Universalist of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and the author of Opening the Window: Sabbath Meditations (Bauhan Publishing, 2011)