Do Not Be Afraid : special general election edition
While pondering what words would best accompany us on election day, my friend, Rabbi Helen, suggested Judy Brown’s poem, “Trough.” It speaks directly to my soul.
“Trough”
There is a trough in waves,
a low spot
where horizon disappears
and only sky
and water are your company.
And there we lose our way
unless
we rest, knowing the wave will bring us
to its crest again.
There we may drown
if we let fear
hold us within its grip and shake us
side to side,
and leave us flailing, torn, disoriented.
But if we rest there
in the trough,
in silence,
being with the low part of the wave,
keeping
our energy and
noticing the shape of things,
the flow,
then time alone
will bring us to another place
where we can see
horizon, see the land again,
regain our sense
of where
we are,
and where we need to swim.
May you rest in the trough until a new horizon appears.
No matter what, do not be afraid.
By Grace and Grit,
Debra Asis
