Day 7: Look back, with honesty and thanks

Reflect

You have come to the end of the first week. If it has been hard, that is not a sign that you have done it badly. Honest work is often hard work. Naming what happened, making room for grief, meeting fear, resting, looking at the facts, and reaching out are not small things.

Today is a day to look back, not to measure. Read through what you have written, if you have written anything, and notice what stands out. Perhaps something surprised you. Perhaps you noticed a feeling you had been avoiding. Perhaps you simply noticed that you got through each day.

There is a line in Lamentations that is worth knowing. It was written in one of the saddest passages in Scripture, by someone watching their world fall apart. In the middle of it, the writer says that the Lord's mercies are new every morning, and that his faithfulness is great. Notice that it is not written from a comfortable place. It is written from inside the loss, which is why it carries weight.

That is what this week has been practising: telling the truth about the loss and still leaving room for mercy. You do not have to feel the mercy today. You only have to leave a little room for it, like leaving a light on at the window.

Next week we turn gently toward a question that sits under all the others: who are you, apart from the work you do? For today, there is nothing more to accomplish. You can mark this day done, make your week one card if you would like one, and close the book with nothing left to prove.

Verse

“It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

Journal

What did I notice about myself this week that I have not wanted to admit? What is one small thing I am grateful for, even now?

One small action

Read through your journal answers from this week. Underline the one sentence that felt most honest. Then make your week one card, if you would like to.

A 60-second breath prayer

Breathe in: “Your mercies are new”

Breathe out: “thank you for this week”

Breathe slowly for about a minute, saying the first line as you breathe in and the second as you breathe out.