The Embrace Came Before The Apology

You are rehearsing the apology in the quiet of this watch. Practicing how to make yourself smaller so you don't burden the room when morning comes.

You shrink your voice before you even speak, convinced that your weight is too much for the people you love. But listen — the Father who saw you from a long way off did not run to meet a perfected version of you.

He ran to the one covered in the dust of the road, still rehearsing his speech. The embrace came before the apology.

The feast was prepared before the confession was finished. You do not need to make yourself small to fit into the light.

The light makes room for you exactly as you are. Stop practicing how to disappear.

You were made to take up space.