When you go to a peaceful place,
a for-off forest or a moment of prayer,
don’t return to easily.
First really be there: take it in,
swallow its essence, breathe its spirit,
so it will be in you when you return.
Don’t jump back into the panic and swirl.
Learn to amble through the chaos.
When you return from the ocean
keep its rhythms still in your ears,
its vastness still filling your eyes.
Rise from your prayers
still dripping with silence,
walk through your day at a prayerful pace,
trailing bits of God.
—August 23, 2018