Let us begin
by centering ourselves.
Listen inward.
And as you do,
take a deep breath in …
and let it go.
Freedom —
a bird in the sky,
a child with a kite,
a cascading waterfall.
I too have known
such moments,
when Spirit lifted me.
Once,
while walking a quiet path
in deep despair,
I came upon a statue
of St. Francis.
I had read his prayer
many times,
and yet that day
it reached me as if
for the first time —
a breath of life
when I could not breathe.
That moment opened me
to a glimpse of freedom —
a loosening,
a softening,
a release of what I thought
I had to carry.
Since then,
I have known this
deeper freedom:
to rest,
to rise beyond circumstance,
to remember I belong to
something greater.
So let me be —
a wind that lifts,
a hand that steadies,
a flame that warms —
not for me,
but for love.
And now
I invite you
to remember your own moment —
a time when something
touched you anew.
Hold that moment close,
and feel how freedom
breathes in you still.
Together, let us affirm:
I am free.
I am open.
I am whole.
And in this freedom,
we hold a quiet intention —
that all may come to know
this same spaciousness,
this same belonging,
and that freedom
may be felt
in every heart,
every community,
every nation.
And so it is.