For a Long and Sustained Recovery

In these days of recovery,

a journey of minutes and hours,

days and nights,

may you feel loved.

May you find comfort in the hands

of those who care for you,

and may they give you what you need

in the inner reaches of your spirit.

In times of pain,

in hours of impatience and boredom,

in moments that stretch forward with inexplicable loneliness,

may you be surprised by comfort,

sustained by humor,

soothed by love.

May you never feel alone in this journey.

May your body find its rhythm,

your muscles and bones and blood

meet as friends, knitting together

with great strength and common purpose.

May you feel the promise of wholeness

and freedom of health,

and may that stubborn hope sustain you.

As your body finds healing,

may your spirit seek earnestly its own solace;

may you be released from fear and the memories of fear,

from the bitterness of pain,

 and the strained silence of suffering.

May your suffering deepen your connection

to all that is good and enduring;

may your heart find the language to speak communion

and presence to others that suffer;

may the core of your personhood be nurtured

beyond your own understanding.