[A prayer for when “the pain is too much”]
I am busy telling you
I will never survive this
and you tell me the truth.
You never poison me with the lie that
“God gives you what you can handle.”
You say, instead,
that you promise,
you swear,
an oath made in your blood,
that this suffering will never outlast
this love.
Tell me again, God,
about how love goes on forever.
No, truly, tell me again
about love stronger than even this.
— Kate Bowler, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!, p. 67
Photo: Snow on branches, South Riding, Virginia, February 12, 2025