“I will pass over you,
and no plague shall destroy you.”
—Exodus 12.13
When fierce winds scream
you want to know
what’s your own breath and what isn’t.
When water rises over you
you want to know where your blood ends
and the sea’s begins.
When fear swirls
look to see how much of it is within.
When hate burns vast forests
don’t be on fire.
You are a child of God,
not the headlines,
in the world but not of it.
Know what is you and what is not.
Mindful, you can bear peace into chaos,
light out into the darkness.
—September 8, 2017