Peace be with you

Life has been dealing me and the people I love with a lot of blows and highs and gentle awakenings lately. A few weeks ago, my aunt was diagnosed with cancer, and their family have been thrown into a rush of medications, chemotherapy, and depression.

Last Saturday, we went to visit my tita who just had her latest bout with chemo. When we got to their house, there were minimal pleasantries, a discarding of useless, meaningless and inappropriate traditions. Instead, there was just this wound, a sadness so deep and so terrifying that my tita was living with. In times of great pain and fear, one cannot help but be honest. This is just me. And I'm terrified.

On our way there, I was feeling nervous and uneasy. How would I respond to her? What if I run out of things to say? What if I become more of a burden than a relief?

But when we got there, all these feelings went away. There was no need to worry. Just stay present. Stay awake, and listen. Just be the open space upon which and through which, the person in pain can let go of her fears. Just affirm, touch, listen, breathe... In this space, you realize that you are not apart from her or from all beings. You share the same pain, the same desire for upliftment, for relief.

As I was holding her hand as she wept, I felt humbled. I felt profoundly privileged to partake of this honesty. And once again my Spirit was stilled.

A sincere wish for healing for everyone who is ill, suffering and in pain. God bless.