I Will Hold You in the Light
by Emily P. Freeman
Previously published in The Soul Minimalist
If you don’t know what to do, what to say, or how to pray, perhaps you’ll consider this beautiful Quaker phrase.
I will hold you in the Light honors the imago Dei, the Divine image-bearing identity of every human.
It reminds us that we don’t have to say perfectly eloquent words or make elaborate requests of God.
It implies action — holding and bringing — but not an over-functioning force or act of coercion.
It honors the width and breadth and depth of God, who is not only like light but who is Light.
If you find yourself in a situation where you don’t know what’s next, if you’re considering the spaces of your own life where you’ve started to sense either the dread of discomfort or an anticipatory excitement of change, here is a prayer for you and yours, taken from the final page of How to Walk into a Room:
As you consider the rooms you’re in, the rooms you’ve left, and the rooms you’re ready to enter, I will hold you in the Light.
As you evaluate the rooms of your life, as you point to what’s true, call it out loud, and consider if it’s time to go, I will hold you in the Light.
As you carry the questions those rooms raise in and around you—to apply or not to apply, to accept or decline, to keep trying or to let go, to speak up or to stay quiet, to move on or to dig in—I will hold you in the Light.
As you stand in hallways that seem to have no end, wondering if you have a place to belong, questioning your next right thing, healing from the pain and confusion of goodbyes, I will hold you in the Light.
As you approach new thresholds of possibility, heart full of hope, head full of curiosity, body pulsing with new energy, I will hold you in the Light.
As you navigate all the rooms of your life as the person who you are and are becoming, I will hold you in the Light.
I will hold you in the Light of God who parents us, Christ who befriends us, and Spirit who is our Divine Comfort.
In your arrivals and your departures, may peace be your kind companion, embodying your rooms, following you out, and traveling with you wherever you go.
Amen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EMILY P. FREEMAN
Emily P. Freeman is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Next Right Thing: A Simple Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions and How to Walk into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away. With a masters degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership from Friends University, her most important work is to help create soul space and offer spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue.
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