Breath prayers for the rest of us…

…the rest of us…
…who have waited… and waited… far longer than we wanted or was comfortable.
…who have mourned and are still mourning… and may never stop mourning because letting go of the grief feels like a betrayal of all we’ve lost.
…who are struggling… with depression, anxiety, chronic pain and terminal illness… or maybe… just life.
…who feel unseen… unheard… misunderstood… forgotten… by others… by God.
…who have prayed all the prayers and have simply run out of prayers… whose prayers have been reduced to silence.

…if you feel lost, invisible or engulfed by pain… these prayers are for you.

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
Isaiah 9:2 ESV

As we journey through Advent, we are reminded again that it is typically described as a season of waiting. Even more so, as a season of waiting in darkness. Our first week we lit a candle of Hope. Last week we lit another candle, a candle of Peace. This week we light another candle to push back the darkness… the candle of Joy.

Not sure about you, but joy in seasons of darkness can seem not merely impossible, but unreasonable. Is it even reasonable to seek joy in the midst of great pain?

Recall the Pixar movie Inside Out 2. If you’ve watched it, you know Joy has to journey together with Sadness to find their way back from a place of great turmoil and confusion within. Joy and Sadness learn together that both are necessary to find their way home… neither can travel the journey without the other.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) also writes of the deep communion of Joy and Sorrow:

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Breathe this breath prayer with me:
Inhale: Joy and Sorrow
Exhale: I let go of the tension between them
Inhale: I hold both Joy and Sorrow
Exhale: until together we find our way home

May this prayer light a candle of JOY within.
Godspeed on the journey, my friend,
Jody

(C) 2025 Jody Thomae

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Jody is an author, spiritual director, worship leader and trauma-informed somatic therapist working at the intersections of spirituality, embodiment, healing, beauty and worship. You can find her books on Amazon and her offerings in living a more fully embodied, whole hearted life at www.fullyembodied.com.