Jeweled Breadcrumbs #6 : a bird in my chest — trustworthy Spirit
There is a bird in my chest
whispering
anger sadness
disgust gladness
There is a bird in my chest
lighting matches
memories reason insight
sparking what is right
There is a bird in my chest
floating
comfort cheer release
gifting peace
There is a bird in my chest
growing knowing
waking me to welcome
this gray day
Jeweled Breadcrumb
Years ago when i stumble upon St. John of the Cross’s poem “Dark Night” in which he writes of a “fire inside” that no one can extinguish, i realize, the fire about which St. John speaks sounds just like my seven sanctuary words, “Nothing can touch you where I am.” (see Jeweled Breadcrumbs #4)
The fire that refuses to be extinguished is what emboldens child me to stare into my father’s eyes and refuse to cry as he berates me. The trustworthy fire gives adult me the will to get up every morning, insist on integrity and persist on the path of downward mobility by leaping into the unknown and radically changing my vocation three times. The unfailing fire gives elder me confidence in the words that press me to write as well as a fair share of hope in the face of the suffering and disillusionment assaulting the world today.
Over the course of six decades, the substance of the preemptive words, “Nothing can touch you where I am,” has evolved for me. Better said, across the decades i have ‘become’ to hear and respond to my seven sanctuary words differently. Today i experience my touchstone words as the grace and grit to live rightly, given to me by the unborn, undying, Ultimate Reality i have ‘become’ to call the Spirit of God, the trustworthy voice of the bird in my chest.
Thank you for reading these words,
written by God given grace and grit of a real human being. Debra Asis
INVITATION — will you join me tracing the trail of Jeweled Breadcrumbs? Please add your stories of Jeweled Breadcrumbs in the comments. I will respond.
The assignment that brings me to the writing of these words is to unapologetically tell the story of how God nudges, cajoles, drop kicks and masters me to be the real human being that I am … becoming … following God’s Jeweled Breadcrumbs. My daily writing challenge for 2025 is to share the Breadcrumbs with you.
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You may also visit me at https://www.debraasis.org/
