Letters from prison

1-21-07

Thank you so much for the money order. It really helps me, and I’m deeply grateful.

Enclosed is an essay that I felt very deeply. It was inspired by some essays that I’ve been reading. When I asked my students to write an essay on what their wish would be for 2007, I expected to get responses like, “getting out of prison” or “winning a lot of money” …something like that.

Instead, most of them were what I would call “cries of the heart.” They described the need to connect with others, the need to not feel alone.

I’ve written a lot of words about facing our fears and surrendering into the darkest of nights, of letting go of all that we cling to. And sometimes they seem like trite meaningless symbols of what is going on deep inside us.

Times like these when we cry out with our heart are times in life when we are the most human, and we’re the most divine when we’re the most human.

Comments

[Zinna]

Great work.