You Are Allowed to Exhale Now

The sun is just beginning to touch the window, but you are holding your breath so the person beside you won't feel the tremor running through your ribs. You have become a statue of silence, terrified that shifting an inch will be an invitation for them to wake and ask the question you cannot answer.

But listen — the light does not require you to be still to be held. It does not need you to suppress your shaking to love you.

There was a man who carried a paralysis so deep he could not even move himself, and when he was finally brought into the room, the light saw not his stillness but the faith of those who carried him. It said simply: 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' The trembling is not a barrier.

It is the very thing being held right now. You do not have to protect your partner from your pain; the light is already holding both of you in the quiet.

The night is over. The dawn is here.

And you are allowed to exhale.