Beholding Love in a Burning World
by Felicia Murrell
This contemplative practice features a poem entwined within a guided meditation. You are invited to read or listen to the piece’s give and take, read the poem, and then try the practice. Or experience it both ways.
Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose, holding it for a brief moment at the top to feel your own presence. As you release the breath, imagine dropping beneath the noise of the day.
Skin crawling with the tears of the world;
Narratives running like live wire,
setting the earth aflame.
In the burning, may we be rain.
As the external world burns, let your breath be water. Inhale deeply, gathering up the heat, the tension, and the chaos carried within your frame.
Exhale a long, slow sigh of relief, letting the heavy weight drop from your shoulders. Allow your body to absorb the cooling presence of your own breath.
The barren earth, charred and desolate,
scorched by the brushfire.
We lament the fire.
Mourn the devastation it wreaks.
In the wailing, may we be held.
Though we lament, we do not have to grieve alone. Feel the solid support of the chair or the floor beneath you, offering an unwavering foundation. Drop your weight fully into this contact, allowing yourself to be held by the earth. Rest here for a moment, recognizing you do not have to carry the heaviness of the world alone.
Time passes as time does—circuitous, continual.
A loop of sunsets, seasons, and moon phases.
Patterns persist, new mercies emerge.
True of nature, true of society.
Therein lies the goodness of Love.
Slow your breathing, letting the inhalation drop all the way down into the softness of your belly. Place a gentle hand on your stomach, feeling the continual, rhythmic rise and fall of this steady tide. Trust this ancient, internal pacing to ground you in the present.
In liminal space,
between life as it is and life as possibility,
the ashes of that which was meant to destroy
become fertilizer in the cycle of life.
In the waiting, may we be still.
Move your awareness into the quiet, spacious caverns within your own chest. Let your physical body soften into the stillness, releasing the need to fix or figure out. There is nothing for you to do here but simply be.
Waste as compost,
seeding a new beginning.
Kernels of hope.
Death giving way to new life—verdant and vibrant.
Nothing is ever wasted
not chaos,
nor destruction.
In the tilling, may we be seed.
Allow the breath to rise and expand on the inhale. Empty fully on the exhale, clearing out the old soil of the heart. Breathe deeply into the belly, expanding completely on the inhale to create space for what is new. Feel the quiet power of your own body resting in a state of fertile potential.
Lush grass and wildflowers emerge.
A testament to regeneration.
Life, alive,
at work beneath the ground.
Resiliency is the work that happens in the dark.
In the wake of calamity,
a kaleidoscope of color
pushes up through the soil, wild and free.
In the unveiling, may we bear witness.
Lift your gaze. Bear witness to the space around you. With open palms resting upward on your lap, breathe into the spaciousness of this exact moment. Gently roll your shoulders back to open your chest, your throat, and your heart center. Feel the aliveness of your limbs; the air of your breath.
In the threshold between
reaction and response,
Mystery invites.
Fingers, one by one,
ease their grip,
softening their hold on attachments—
living in reciprocity with the present.
In the living, may we unfurl.
Bring your attention to your hands, notice if your fingers are tightly curled, tense, or gripping. As you inhale, gently draw them into a soft fist, acknowledging the body’s desire to protect itself. Then, as you exhale, allow your fingers, one by one, to ease their grip—softening your hold on attachments, letting go of what was, and releasing the demand for what is yet to be. Allow your physical body to unfurl like a leaf reaching for the sun.
In the alchemy of time,
the seed—
that which has always been—
gives rise to its radiance,
the inherent goodness within.
Reclaimed, transformed,
ablaze with the fire of Love.
In the beholding, may we be amazed.
Bring your awareness back to the center of your chest, to the sacred space of the heart. Feel a gentle, resonant warmth radiating outward from this center, filling your torso and limbs. Take a final deep, full breath, bathing your entire being in this warmth, and release it with a soft, liberating sigh. Rest in the wonder of your own being, carrying this spaciousness with you as you return to the world.
Felicia Murrell a spiritual director and the author of AND: The Restorative Power of Love In An Either/Or World. Mom to four adult children, she makes her home in St. Paul, MN, with her husband, Doug. For more about Felicia, visit her website: www.feliciamurrell.com.
