The open week

"Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 4:6-7

Monday morning and there is nothing I need to carry today.

I have been carrying something every week for a month. Memorial Day and then Hannah's birthday and then the anniversary and then Father's Day, and each one asked something of me that I was glad to give but that took something out of me too, the way any honest giving does.

This morning there is no anchor. No one's birthday. No date that needs to be held. Just Monday, just June, just the coffee and the table and the window open and the garden growing out there without any help from me.

I prayed this morning the way I pray when I am not carrying anything, which is loosely and without direction. I did not ask for anything. I did not bring anyone to the table with me. I just sat with the quiet and let it be what it was, which was enough.

The laundry is waiting. The soup beans are for tomorrow. The week is ahead of me and it does not need anything from me yet and I am going to sit here for five more minutes and not move.

Ruby keeps a collection of prayers at her kitchen table. You can find them here.