You Can Exhale Now

The room is loud, and you are sitting very still, calculating the exact moment your lungs will give out. You are wearing a face that laughs on cue, but inside, the air is running thin.

The mask is heavy today—heavier than the silence you are hiding beneath it. But listen: the light does not need your performance to find you.

It sees the quiet panic behind the smile. It knows the cost of holding your breath.

Jesus once looked at a man paralyzed by fear and said, 'Son, your sins are forgiven,' before the man even stood up. He saw the hidden burden and lifted it first.

You do not have to earn the right to breathe. The air is already here.

The light is already here. And it is not asking you to hold on any longer.

You can exhale now.