In recent weeks, I’ve been able to share a visualization exercise with several people about two important temporal postures that can dramatically affect our own sense of well-being and our relationship to the world around us. The visualization uses two concepts to help a person orient themselves in space-time.

Facing

Facing refers to the current orientation of our attention and focus. Our intention, care, and observer energy are directed at this time period. There are three fairly concrete directions and one esoteric/mystical direction. We can be past, present, future, or timeless facing.

Past facing involves the conscious intention to examine the past through memory, feeling, story, body-memories, and conversation. This can be as academic as reading and researching history and as deeply personal as a moment of grief or savoring a past triumph. Past facing holds gently that these things have already happened as far as we can tell, and that while we might be able to reframe or change the interpretation, we cannot change the reality of what did happen. The question for this space is “so what really happened?”

Present facing involves conscious intention to give our attention to the present moment. This may be through a focused activity like doing the work in front of me, or a more gentle awareness like mindfulness, noticing, meditation, or body work. It can even be deeply embodied like savoring the meal you are eating right now, mindful sipping of coffee or tea, or the enjoyment of physical connection with another person. Our attention is here and now. The question for this space is “so what’s here now?”

Future facing is our conscious effort to imagine what has not happened yet. It can be as goal oriented as practicing for a concert, taking an exam for a job, or filling out a planner for the month ahead. It can also be more soft focused, like imagining a plot for a book, daydreaming about an upcoming event, or mutual conversation about a shared dream for a good thing that has yet to come. The question for this space is “so what comes next?”

Timeless facing is the potential for incredible stillness that allows us to let go of time as a construct, experiencing, however briefly, a taste of eternal now where all sense of linear, cyclical, or spiral movement simply ends. It’s sort of the absolute zero of consciousness and a rare state that some of us might never be aware of experiencing. There are no questions here because thought is still.

In each of these modes, what moves is attention, intention, and focus. In the fourth, even attention itself dissolves like a spoon in the Matrix.

Dwelling

This aspect of our temporal posture is less about attentiveness and more about the felt sense of time in our bodies. Here we engage the sense of motion, velocity, gravity. Which phase is pulling us in and won’t let go.

Past dwelling can looks like rumination on what happened, time traveling body memories from previous overwhelming experiences, nostalgia, or even the forgetfulness that can come as we age- “In my imagination I’m 35 year old me”. In it’s most extreme form it can look like despair, “my best days are in the past, everything good is already behind me”, or “Everything has already been so hard, and I’m so beat up that I can’t even imagine a future.” Some forms of dementia leave a person permanently past dwelling because those synapses are what still works and the present is unintelligible.

Present dwelling is the embodied awareness that I am right here, right now. Its best version is an embodied mindfulness that marries movement and action with awareness and curiosity. Present dwelling can go off the rails though, when it becomes impulsive and arbitrary, behaving as if now won’t have consequences then. We have some many ways in popular culture to describe this phenomenon, fear of missing out (FOMO), You only live once (YOLO), do what feels good, I’ll be mellow when I’m dead. Successful present dwelling in contemplative life needs to be paired with the ability to shift through the different facing postures.

Future dwelling is the sense of racing ahead of everyone into the future. In it’s best sense it can be a space of wild innovation and creativity, being able to connect the dots and write the plans as if the moment had already arrived. At the same time, this race into the unknown can leave us anxious, fearful, constantly scripting entire dramas of what may be with no anchor in what is possible or likely. In the most somber sense, future dwelling is always racing on to what’s next without examining what happened or what is, it is finally, a race to the finish line, which for a human life is our final breath and the stillness of death.

Timeless dwelling is a way of articulating that not only has attention and awareness of time dissolved, but that the sense of the self as a separate container has dissolved as well, therefore the relationship of self to time becomes a non sequitur. This is a rare occurrence. The kinds of experiences related to this kind of dwelling are very intense moments of ego-dissolution, like near death experiences, profound psychedelic medicine journeys, mystical union through contemplation where the self and the Godself become indistinguishable spatially and temporally, and also the harrowing experiences like forms of psychosis, total catatonic dissociation, and traumatic psychedelic journeys.

Combination Move

We’re curiously complex creatures, and so we are capable of dwelling in one space and facing another. If I set an intention to prepare my schedule for the week ahead and look at how that will affect the prayer and meal schedule for the house, I can be simultaneously present dwelling and future facing. If I meet with a novice and we review their past month and the outcomes of their rule and what they learned in that time, we can be present dwelling and past facing together to help surface wisdom.

For folks who have endured instances or chronic traumatic stress, they can end up past dwelling and future facing at the same time. Everything that was too much, too fast, too soon in the past overwhelms any sense of the present and the future looms large as an ever present deliverer of new threats.

Sometimes during the healing and integration process, we borrow energy from our dwelling space and lend it to another space through our facing. For example, the felt sense of community in the present can be offered to a lonely past self through past facing attention and kindness.

As an exercise

This framework gives us an opportunity to tease out whether thoughts and feelings about a particular part of our story are a form of conscious attention and intention, or a felt sense of being “somewhen”. Even drawing awareness to the distinction, and then to the interplay, and the ways we can use different combinations to show deep compassion to both the dwelling place and the focus of attention for every part of ourselves can be a real help. Relativity teaches us that space and time are like a unified fabric, meaning that each somewhere is different, even if we return to a place, because it is a different somewhen. Mindfully relating to the mystery of time is another way to bring a contemplative lens to the actions of our everyday life.

As you practice today, can you notice the subtle shifts in your facing? What about your dwelling? Does that stay more steady? If your sense of dwelling changes, can you pay attention with loving curiosity to what is happening in those moments? How does understanding your temporal posture open your heart to telling a merciful story about what it’s like to be you today?

De dichter des vaderlands*

Dit stuk plak ik daar op dan moet hier nog een laag overheen dit afvoergat vul ik met een rubberstop voor deze opening rol ik een dikke grote steen die scheur daar smeer ik helemaal vol die tochtgaten nagel ik met lakens dicht die stroom trage prut moet worden gestold op dat luik takel ik een enorm zwaar gewicht daar komen duizenden hekwerken verderop een paar smalle bruggen met tolpoorten de dijken ga ik driedubbel versterken bij de grens vijfhonderd extra uitkijktorens bij iedere toegang minstens twee grenswachten op alle manieren onze wereld stevig isoleren alleen nog maar politiek bedrijven met uitzendkrachten en iedereen van buiten blijven afweren tot ze het hier naartoe komen afleren die naad plak ik nog een keer extra af dat hol moet met aarde worden gevuld een muur moet er komen tussen koren en kaf er moet direct een einde komen aan alle uitgaande en inkomende flauwekul niemand mag meer met vaten communiceren alleen bekenden mogen nog worden bemind het tij mag vanaf dit moment niet eens meer keren en dat allemaal omdat ik vanaf dit moment de zelf verklaard dichter des vaderlands ben.

*letterlijk

The people of Earth develop nuclear power. Naron, a long-lived Rigellian who serves as the Keeper of galactic records, notes this achievement and records humanity as having reached maturity. Until he discovers something else... Despite the seriousness of the subject, Asimov keeps a light touch in this very short story.

---

A 1-minute read.

Naron of the long-lived Rigellian race was the fourth of his line to keep the Galactic records.

He had the large book which contained the list of the numerous races throughout the Galaxies that had developed intelligence, and the much smaller book listing those races that had reached maturity and had qualified for the Galactic Federation. In the first book, a number of those listed were crossed out; those that, for one reason or another, had failed. Misfortune; biochemical or biophysical shortcomings; social maladjustment, etc., took their toll. In the smaller book, however, no member listed had yet blanked out.

And now Naron, large and incredibly ancient, looked up as a messenger approached.

“Naron,” said the messenger. “Great One!”

“Well, well, what is it? Less ceremony.”

“Another group of organisms has attained maturity.”

“Excellent. Excellent. They are coming up quickly now. Scarcely a year passes without a new one. And who are these?”

The messenger gave the code number of the Galaxy and the coordinates of the world within it.

“Ah, yes,” said Naron. “I know the world.” And in flowing script, he noted it in the first book and transferred its name into the second—using, as was customary, the name by which the planet was known to the largest fraction of its populace. He wrote: Earth.

He said, “These new creatures have set a record. No other group has passed from intelligence to maturity so quickly. No mistake, I hope.”

“None, sir,” said the messenger.

“They have attained to thermonuclear power, have they?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, that’s the criterion.” Naron chuckled. “And soon their ships will probe out and contact the Federation.”

“Actually, Great One,” said the messenger, reluctantly, “the Observers tell us they have not yet penetrated space.”

Naron was astonished. “Not at all? Not even a space station?”

“Not yet, sir.”

“But if they have thermonuclear power, where then do they conduct their tests and detonations?”

“On their own planet, sir.”

Naron rose to his full twenty feet of hight and thundered, “On their own planet?”

“Yes, sir.”

Slowly, Naron drew out his stylus and passed a line through the latest addition in the smaller book. It was an unprecedented act, but, then, Naron was very wise and could see the inevitable as well as anyone in the Galaxy.

“Silly asses,” he muttered.

#asimov

JOURNAL 22 octobre 2026

Ka chan a mangé avec nous. On a de la chance le temps permet qu’on s'entraîne dehors et c’est ce que je trouve le mieux. La tante de T chan est arrivée dans la matinée elle a une heure de voiture c'est bien. T était très heureuse les deux très émues aussi. Sa tante l'aime beaucoup, elle s’est toujours inquiétée pour elle avec ce père toxique dont elle s’est toujours méfiée, d'où l'éloignement de sa sœur. Elle a cru que T partie mise dehors pratiquement après une scène affreuse, on ne la retrouverait jamais, elle était morte d'inquiétude. Notre coup de téléphone l’a rendue folle de joie. Elle a convaincu la mère de lui confier T de toute façon son salaud de père n’en veut plus. En fait il est persuadé qu’elle n’ est pas sa fille. Vous voyez l'ambiance.

Cette tante est veuve, elle a entre quarante et cinquante ans, jamais eu d'enfant. Son mari lui a laissé de quoi vivre à l’aise, il était seul héritier d’une famille de commerçants. Elle vit de placements financiers. Elle nous a raconté tout ça pour nous rassurer, elle a tout de suite compris à quel point on serait attentives. Elle ne sait pas comment nous remercier, T lui a raconté qu'on l’avait sauvée d’un sale type ça l’a beaucoup impressionnée. La meilleure façon de nous remercier c’est d'aider T chan à devenir une adulte belle dans son âme et libre. Gros programme. Mais on lui a assuré qu’on l'aidera. Elle a gagné 8 grandes sœurs dans l'affaire, ça aussi ça a beaucoup impressionné la tante. Elle a l'air d'une bonne personne. On lui a rendu sa nièce sans crainte. Échange de téléphones puis adieux avec quelques larmes et très gros câlins 🥲 Sitôt arrivée T nous a appelées. — bien arrivée il y a un chat. Elle est heureuse 😍 on se reverra

#Tchan

---

Avec ça j'oublie que A avait rendez-vous au ministère, au sous sol. Elle a revu le type qui lui avait proposé la mission. Il lui a donné des instructions orales, comme moi, des conseils etc. On n’aura droit qu’aux bagages à main pas de valise, genre sac à dos sac de sport ça suffira. Des vêtements pratiques genre sport et chauds. Sur place on sera équipées selon les circonstances. On sera averties du départ la veille. On viendra nous chercher. À partir du 30 il faut qu’on soit prêtes à tout moment. D'ici là elle est dispensée de venir au ministère, et d’autres trucs pratiques et merci pour votre participation nous sommes conscients du service que vous acceptez de rendre au Japon. Même insistance sur le mot. Un détail important : on ne se munit pas de nos passeports, pas de papiers d'identité, ils s'en occupent. Au revoir madame. Poignée de main, pas d'inclinaison.

Puis elle est montée à son bureau pour prendre deux trois trucs. Elle a croisé les habituels collègues et tous y compris ses supérieurs la saluaient avec ce qui lui a semblé une nuance de respect. C’est très subtil l'art du salut au Japon, je lui ai donné des cours du soir, elle sait saisir des nuances très légères qui échappent à des occidentaux non formés et qui sont pleines de sens pourtant. Donc nous voici en vacances et libres comme l'air jusqu'au 30, après arrivera ce qui doit arriver… J'avoue un peu d'excitation et beaucoup de curiosité.

Maintenant ma chérie me tire par mon yukata, nous avons à faire, c’est privé.

#Ukraine

Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel

Panel Info: https://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=650

Date of meeting: 11th September 2026

Summary of Meeting

The Panel received four substantive items: the Constabulary's Words Matter reporting guidelines, an update on the Combatting Drugs Partnership from Deputy PCC Nick Evans, the OPCC Community Engagement Strategy, and progress on the recruitment of a permanent Chief Constable. The Chief Executive's report covered the force financial position, Raneem's Law, the Sentencing Act 2026 and the Government's policing White Paper.
On Words Matter, the guidelines set reporting standards for police communicators on male violence against women and girls, requiring the active voice, precise naming of offences (for example “rape” rather than “serious sexual assault”), and language that does not shift responsibility onto victims. During question time I introduced the peer-led StopWatch study, Girls and Young Women's Research Project, which examined the experiences of young women and girls subjected to stop and search and strip search. I raised concern that many participants were not given records of the searches, were not told the reasons for the encounter, and in some cases experienced procedural failings apparently inconsistent with statutory requirements. I asked how local scrutiny arrangements, including stop and search scrutiny panels, legitimacy panels and the new Youth Advisory Group, would identify and respond to similar issues in Gloucestershire, referencing the former Community Complaints Trigger which referred matters for community scrutiny after a single complaint. Current arrangements differ from that policy. I asked for a considered response; this request does not appear in the draft minutes and I am querying it. The PCC responded on stop and search find rates, but the matter was not resolved at the meeting.

The Combatting Drugs Partnership was established in 2022 following Dame Carol Black's independent review. It brings together Public Health, the Constabulary, education, youth justice, treatment providers and people with lived experience, working to three national priorities: breaking drug supply chains, delivering a world class treatment and recovery system, and reducing demand. Since 2022 the county has moved to the provider Via, increased the number of adults and young people in treatment, and achieved retention rates in the top national quartile. Continuity of treatment for prison leavers remains difficult as the county has no prison within its borders; the rate of prison leavers entering community treatment within three weeks is 35%, meeting the current target, with an ambition of 44% in 2026/27. Ketamine use among young people was identified as a serious emerging concern and prompted a dedicated task and finish group. School-based prevention was acknowledged as the area of least progress, with a stronger focus planned in the 2026 to 2029 work programme.

The Community Engagement Strategy sets four priorities: increasing public understanding of the OPCC and Constabulary roles, building trust and confidence, ensuring diverse community voices are heard, and expanding engagement across all communities. The Trust and Confidence Survey identified women, people aged 16 to 35, and ethnic minority communities as underrepresented in current samples. Focus group work with the Gloucestershire Deaf Association is planned over coming months, and a Youth Advisory Group for ages 16 to 25 is being recruited through schools, colleges and community events. This discussion referenced work on strip search procedures where issues have been identified.

Recruitment of a permanent Chief Constable follows the retirement of the substantive post holder in July 2026. The timetable is: national advert live 3 September 2026; applications close 24 September 2026; shortlisting 28 September 2026; stage 3 interviews at the Sabrina Centre 12 October 2026; final interview panel 13 October 2026; Panel confirmation hearing 20 November 2026. A community consultation survey is being run for the first time, with responses themed to inform the first stage of interviews.

The Chief Executive's report noted a projected force overspend of £0.5m on a £185m budget to the end of July. Efficiency savings are forecast at £7.1m against £9.0m assumed in the budget, offset by £1.5m of savings in minimum revenue provision due to lower capital spend in 2025/26. On national developments: Raneem's Law will place domestic abuse specialists in force control rooms, with just over £100,000 secured for two specialists in the Force Control Room (domestic abuse is approximately 20% of recorded crime); key provisions of the Sentencing Act 2026 are implemented, including a presumption that custodial sentences of 12 months or less will normally be suspended and a Progression Model allowing release after roughly one third of sentence, with £195k offered to each PCC through a Surge Fund for victim support; and the White Paper, From Local to National: A New Model for Policing, remains under development. The PEEL inspection assessment is due to be published within weeks.

Key Issues for Members to Note

• Financial pressure: a £0.5m projected overspend and a £1.9m shortfall in efficiency savings against budget assumptions.
• Demand and vulnerability: domestic abuse at approximately 20% of recorded crime, and new funding for two control room specialists under Raneem's Law.
• Emerging risk: ketamine use among young people, with school-based prevention identified as the weakest area of the drugs programme.
• Scrutiny of police powers: identified failings in strip search procedure and the absence of a single complaint referral mechanism for community scrutiny.
• Legislative change: Sentencing Act 2026 provisions on suspended sentences and earlier release, with associated victim support funding.
• Governance: the policing White Paper may alter local governance and funding arrangements; the PEEL assessment is imminent.
• Leadership: appointment of a permanent Chief Constable, subject to Panel confirmation on 20 November 2026.

Future Meetings: 20th November 2026 Report Submitted By: Gareth Kitchen Date: 23rd October 2026

The chair that was eagerly awaited for so long remains underutilized, because we are back in the throes of the 1000mph club where I will likely stay until the end of the year.

Alas, settling into my old age will have to wait.

Chain used to hang my floorlamp has been replaced with a rope, which I think looks much nicer now.

Okay, back to work.

#journal

“Görünen bu, şimdilik: İki denizkestanesi; öyle yosunlu kayalara tutunmuş, suyun yüzeyine çok yakın. Tam böyle denilebilir mi acaba?” —Adalet Ağaoğlu, Ruh Üşümesi

“Kafasında binbir insan güzelliğiyle gezen birisi de agora arar, agora bulur. Aradığı agoraları bulabileceği sayılı kentlerden birisi İstanbul’dur. Sana doğup büyüdüğüm Kadıköy sokaklarından bahsedeceğim.” —Hulki Aktunç, İstanbul’u Bul Bana

“In this novel we are prompted to see how time works changes, transforming love into hate, beauty into ugliness, loyalty into treachery (…) ”

“Mahfouz gives us instead an evocation of what has happened to their features, their bodies, the looks in their eyes, the despair in their hearts.” —Naguib Mahfouz, Wedding Song, Tate

This is a journey, an expedition. I know the general direction but there is no destination yet. Maybe there never will be. Perhaps I will know when I arrive. I am not sure how long this expedition will take. Maybe just a few months but it could equally be a year or even years. I will keep adding and editing.

It is an exploration of coaching and spirituality where thoughts, ideas and a bit of reading will be gathered around themes and written-up as if it were a journal. I have a hunch that spirituality is already very important in my work as a mentor and coach and I am sure it will become more so in the years ahead. But I want the pathways to be clearer. On mountains, piles of stones are built to show the way. I might set metaphorical stones so I can travel these routes again. Initially there will be a setting down of some basic ideas, a rough direction which in time may be expanded.

The more worn footpaths of this journey have been made by some notable academics and senior coaches who are well ahead on this exploration of spirituality of coaching. For these, coaching is reimagined in the context of the inner life, the soul, the transpersonal, the ecological crisis, mindfulness and ancient wisdom. I will follow some of these footpaths but at other times I will head-off over rough ground and explore different ideas and approaches. I may arrive at a similar destination having taken a very different route.

Around these exciting discussions and emerging practices a wider change in the world of coaching is happening. There is the challenge of AI in the foreground and coaches now seem to be moving beyond the GROW model and narrow confines of ‘performance coaching’. We are no longer neutral and passive coaches to our client’s sharing, but rather very present, aware and engaged with the offerings of our client. We are rejoicing in the blossoming of diverse coaching practices and theories and together we try to discern the future. What is clear is the future will look very different and I feel sure spirituality will be front of centre of that future.

These pages will be the field notes of the journey, just a small contribution in the wider and exciting exploration of coaching and spirituality. I may take some paths which fade to nothing or leave me on a cliff edge. Sometimes I will need to retrace my steps but I shall not be afraid to make mistakes nor be diminished by my naivety and inexperience in coaching. It will be a joyful, playful journey and I will try to draw in as many friends as possible. The hope is that by writing, sharing, listening and adapting we/I may arrive at a deeper and richer place where spirituality is even more at the service of coaching and coaching even more at the service of spirituality.

I just saw a video of Nathan Fielder telling a girl that failed an audition for him about how she has the rare ability to have a dream, and go and try for it with the knowledge that she might fail. And he said that is the most important thing, and so I don’t know I guess I just stuck with me.

Hi blog friends!

Just a note to acknowledge that me, myself and I made it to the 3 month mile marker of this blog today. Yay!  :–)  Thank you so much to those who have read and supported our weekly updates along the way. 

In other news – if you’re looking to add a sweet SNAIL-TASTIC touch of whimsy, charm or cheer to your day or to your gifts, Cute Snail and I have some coloring pages, coloring books and postcards that you might appreciate. The fall collection is especially adorable.

And, The Guardian says that the kākāpō (an up to nine pound sweet musty smelling flightless parrot native to New Zealand) has surpassed 300 birds for the first time in 75 years. 🙌 

That’s it! Until next time!

❤️ Juliet

Chapter 1: The Prayer She Could Not Finish

A woman types, “Please keep praying for me,” into a message to her sister. Then she deletes it. Her sister has been kind. That is not the problem. She simply cannot face another conversation that begins with hope and ends with the same answer: nothing has changed. She puts the phone facedown on the arm of the couch. There is no crisis tonight, no terrible news to report. There is only the weariness of having to admit, once again, that she is still struggling.

I think about that kind of quiet when I read Luke 13:10–17, the account behind the video about Jesus and the woman who suffered for eighteen years. In Scripture, Jesus sees a woman in the synagogue who is bent over and cannot straighten herself. We are not told whether she had asked Him for help or whether she expected anything different that Sabbath. The passage leaves her words unrecorded until it tells us that, after she was healed, she glorified God. I find that silence worth noticing, especially when considering how to keep turning toward God when prayer feels difficult.

Some people can speak openly about their faith while they are hurting. Others grow quiet. They still believe, but every attempt to pray seems to bring them back to the same request. After enough months, they may begin to wonder whether saying it again will make any difference. I have come to believe we should be gentle with that feeling. It is not something a friend can solve by handing over a cheerful verse and asking for a smile.

The woman in Luke had lived with her condition for eighteen years. That number is not a lesson in how long we should be willing to wait. It is simply part of what makes her suffering so significant. We cannot know what she thought through those years, and we should not claim that we do. But we do know something about the encounter: Jesus noticed her before Luke records any appeal from her. He called her to Him, spoke words of release, laid His hands on her, and she was made straight.

That does not mean silence guarantees a miracle. Many faithful people have prayed for healing and remained ill, and they deserve care rather than an explanation that blames them. What stays with me is the freedom to come honestly before God, even when our words are few. A prayer can be as simple as telling Him that we are tired. We can ask someone we trust to pray beside us without having to supply a hopeful update.

The woman with the unsent message may eventually write her sister something smaller and truer: “I don't have much to say tonight. Could you just check in tomorrow?” She has not solved her problem. She has allowed herself to be known without making a performance of courage. And perhaps tonight that is enough space for a prayer to begin.

Chapter 2: When Other People Make Your Suffering Feel Like a Problem

A woman stands outside a small family gathering, trying to decide whether to go back inside. Earlier in the evening, she mentioned that she might need to leave before everyone else because her treatment has been making her tired. Nobody argued with her directly. But she overheard someone wondering why she had bothered coming if she couldn't stay. Now she is standing beside her car, feeling foolish for having tried. She knows the comment was probably made without much thought. That doesn't make it easier to forget.

There is a moment in Luke 13 that I find especially difficult to read. After Jesus heals the woman, the ruler of the synagogue objects because the healing happened on the Sabbath. He directs his complaint toward the people gathered there, explaining that healing should take place on one of the other six days. Imagine the contrast between what had happened and what was being discussed. A woman had been released from eighteen years of suffering, yet someone was concerned that her relief had arrived at an inconvenient time.

Scripture does not tell us how she felt when the objection was raised. We cannot know whether she was embarrassed, confused, or simply overwhelmed by what Jesus had done. But I recognize something painfully familiar in the situation. Sometimes the hardest part of needing help is discovering that someone else considers your need an interruption. You may already feel uncomfortable asking. When another person questions whether you should have received that kindness, the embarrassment can settle deep inside you.

What moves me is the way Jesus responds. He does not ask the woman to justify her condition or explain why she deserves compassion. He challenges the objection Himself. Speaking about the ordinary practice of untying an animal to give it water on the Sabbath, He asks why this woman should not be released from her bondage. And He calls her “a daughter of Abraham.”

Those words remind me that Jesus understood something the argument had overlooked. She was a person with dignity and a place among God's people. Her suffering had not taken that away. Other people could discuss the timing of her healing, but Jesus would not allow their objection to become the final word about her.

Maybe you have spent years explaining why you need extra time, assistance, understanding, or rest. Perhaps you have become so careful about inconveniencing others that you apologize before asking for anything. I want you to remember that the patience someone offers you is not something you must repay by feeling guilty.

You can be grateful for kindness without being ashamed that you needed it. You can respect other people's responsibilities without believing your own needs are unimportant. And when someone fails to understand, you can leave their judgment where it belongs instead of carrying it into every quiet moment afterward.

Chapter 3: The Kind of Praise That Can Begin in a Whisper

After the last student leaves, a teacher stays in her classroom to straighten the desks. One parent has complained about something she cannot fix. The school year has been harder than she expected, and she has begun driving home in silence because even her favorite music asks for more feeling than she has left. On the corner of her desk sits a drawing from a student who wrote, “Thank you for helping me.” She picks it up, reads it again, and lets herself be glad for one good thing without pretending the rest of the day was good.

Luke tells us that when Jesus laid His hands on the woman, “immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:13, KJV). That response deserves to be heard in its own setting. She had truly been healed. Her praise was a response to something wonderful Jesus had done, not a requirement she met before receiving His compassion.

I think we sometimes turn praise into another burden. We worry that if we sound disappointed, our faith must be weak. So we say we are blessed when what we really mean is that we are frightened, or we tell people everything is fine because we do not want to explain why it isn't. Yet Scripture gives us prayers of sorrow as well as songs of thanksgiving. The Psalms make room for questions, tears, and trust in the same conversation with God.

If you cannot sing today, you can speak plainly. Tell God what remains unresolved. Name the person you miss, the decision you dread, or the treatment that has not helped. Then, if you notice something kind, you may thank Him for it without turning that small good thing into proof that every larger problem will disappear. There is room for both truths.

I would also encourage you to let somebody share the silence. Sit with a trusted friend after church. Ask someone to pray for you when your own words feel thin. It is all right if the only response you can manage is to listen. Christian community was never meant to depend on every person arriving cheerful and self-sufficient.

We never learn what the woman said after that Sabbath or how she remembered it years later. What we do know is that Jesus saw her, called her, and treated her life as worthy of His attention. When you cannot find the words for God, that story can help you remember something gentle and steady: you do not have to be eloquent to be loved.

Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph

Explore the complete Douglas Vandergraph Master Index: https://douglasvandergraph.com/douglas-vandergraph-master-index/

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s faith-based videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph