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

Advent is typically described as a season of waiting. Even more so, as a season of waiting in darkness. The first week of Advent, a single candle is lit… a single candle pushing back the vast, encompassing darkness. This candle represents hope.

In seasons of darkness, silence and waiting, hope doesn’t come easy or cheap. Hope is costly. Hope stands when it feels like sinking. Hope reaches when it would rather withdraw. Hope keeps moving forward… even into the most mundane acts of ‘normalcy’… whatever that is. Hope keeps on hoping, even when all seems hopeless.

Jan Richardson writes this line in her poem “How the Light Comes” in Circle of Grace:

I cannot tell you
how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.
That it works it way
into the deepest dark
that enfolds you…

There’s is no map through or out of this darkness. But… there is a light that comes. As one who’s walked through the valley of the shadow more than once, I can tell you the light does come. But there’s no magical way to make it come. It just does. One day you’ll notice the tiniest of flames… flickering there in the darkness. You’ll have no idea how it got there or what you might’ve done (or not done) to make it so… but it’ll be there nonetheless. I cannot tell you how… only that it does.

Breathe this breath prayer with me:
Inhale: I cannot tell you
Exhale: how the light comes
Inhale: but that it does
Exhale: that it will

Follow along with the rest of this series here.

May this prayer light a candle of HOPE 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.