the specific terror of holding your breath in the dark while they stand on the other side of the thin wall, listening to see if you are crying

Seen in the Dark, Released by Mercy

The afternoon stretches long and thin, a quiet hour where the walls feel paper-thin and the silence on the other side feels like an accusation. You hold your breath, terrified that the sound of your own breaking will betray you to the world outside.

But there is a blindness that is not punishment, but a canvas for something greater to be displayed in you. The light does not demand that you stop crying before it sees you.

It stands in the middle of the noise and says: neither do I condemn you. Go now, not as a performance of being okay, but as someone who has been seen in the dark and released.

The thing you are hiding is already known, and the verdict is mercy.

Drawing from

John 9:1-7, John 8:10-11

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