By Kate Bowler
God, we are heartbroken
in the face of so much grief.
What could we possibly call blessed?
Could we try?
Blessed are we
who allow ourselves to feel it—
the impossibility
of what was possible a second ago—
the light decision, the casual stroll,
the easy exchange and ordinary duty,
a decent choice or a nothing one,
the sweep of hours on a day
that was like any other.
until it wasn’t.
This is the place where
nothing makes sense.
This is the place where
tears show up without permission.
Blessed are we
who allow our hearts to break,
for it will be some time
for brittle unreality to release us
Back into the land of the living.
We have seen and lost
what we never should have.
Blessed are we even in the moments
when we are convinced,
absolutely sure,
that there is nothing untouched
by the ashes of loss.
God, you are an architect
and everything I have is in ruins.
Promise me that someday
something will stand
after so much fell.
Meet Kate Bowler. www.katebowler.com
Hi, I’m Kate. I’m a Duke professor, podcaster, and author with a single mission: giving you permission to feel human. After years of being told I was incurable, I was declared cancer-free. But there’s no going back. I am forever changed by what I discovered: life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.