by Laura K. Secor
Hello my UUCW friends,
It has been a while since I have offered you a Nugget. It has been a year of personal loss for me, and I haven’t felt the energy for writing essays these last several months. It has been a little lonely without the connection we’ve forged here, and each month I test my internal waters, asking if there is new energy returning yet. So far the sorrow is bigger, but I was fortunate enough to discover a wonderful woman named Pixie Lighthorse. She offers prayers for difficult times. It reminds me of the Pema Chodron book, When Things Fall Apart. Pixie is here to offer a hand of guidance and prayer in such times, and I am going to offer you this prayer from her book Prayers of Honoring Voice.
Honoring Risk by Pixie Lighthorse
Thank you for this perfect day for taking chances.
Bless the heart that steps into the light tunnel of alternative thinking.
Help me understand that keeping quiet keeps me small. Guide me to compose my ideas and thoughts without worry about who will respond and how. Help me open to rejection that may come from expressing my ideas and feelings. Show me the real hazards – keep me from making up artificial ones that stall forward movement. Help me gather thoughts that come from my heart.
Support me as I face the unknown. Strengthen my relationship to uncertainty by making my foundation a pyramid. Remind me like those who’ve gone before me, I’m stepping out of the comfort zone to engage possibility. Redirect my fears and place my feet on the path in front of me. Give me a nudge. Help me be a bold example to others who look to me to lead with faith.
Spread my arms wide, open my heart wider, and let me find out for myself. Help me speak from love. Help the healing medicine rise in me.
Remind me that there are no healing reasons to protect those who have done harm. Help me to say the things no one can say for me. Let me remember that my admissions of what is true are as important to my own ears as they are to anyone who listens.
I am ready to pioneer a new way for myself. Pave my road with clarity and trust. Mark the trail with feathers for help soaring.
May my efforts fortify my habit of speaking up for myself. May my vow to try as many times as necessary reveal the promise of my freedom. May my mistakes be my teachers. Help me to reframe what I wish to have said more clearly and truthfully. Let me grant myself second and third opportunities.
Encourage me to stick my neck out – not onto the chopping block, but to stretch myself to beautiful lengths in order to greet what’s ahead.
I hope the summer is regenerative for all of us, and I look forward to rebuilding our connection in the fall.
With warmth,
Laura