THE PARABLE THAT COULDN’T*

I wanted it to lift me up

and out of my pain.

To free me of my suffering.

But it couldn’t.

It didn’t have the hydraulics

I believed it needed

to do the job

the way 

I thought it 

should be done.

It took a different approach,

by showing me 

I was not 

alone.

By showing me

we all carry

 

grief and loss

in our bodies 

like a weight 

we can’t shake.

By showing me we

are the mustard seed 

we are seeking.

We are the missing

ingredient our neighbors

can’t give us.

Only when we put down

the need to be lifted 

does everything 

get lighter.

Do our hearts 

get less heavy.

Do we rise.

Do we become 

the parable

freed 

of its pages

and binding,

that then simply  

floats away  

on the invisible 

wings of grace.

*To learn more about the parable of the mustard seed, click on the link.