sitting at the dinner table laughing at a joke while your throat still burns from holding back the sob

The Father Runs Before You Speak

The laughter at the table feels like a betrayal of the grief tightening your throat. You swallow the sob so the moment stays bright, but the burn in your chest tells the truth you are hiding.

There is a father who saw his son coming home from a long way off. He ran.

Before the apology, before the speech — he ran. You do not have to finish holding it together for the light to reach you.

It sees the mask and loves the face beneath it. The light that lives in you was there before the joke, and it will be there after the tears fall.

You are not alone in the silence behind your smile.

Drawing from

Luke, John

Verses

Luke 15:20, John 1:9

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