You are the light of the world.
–Matthew 5:14

We must let go of outcomes. 
Suffering is caused by not accepting things as they are, 
not admitting we are powerless to control the future. 

I’m learning to accept my powerlessness. 
I try to notice when I fixate on how I can get what I want or  
obsess over why I don’t have it now.
Sometimes I can let go.

But I can’t let go of longing 
for this outcome: 
God’s will to be done 
on earth as it is in heaven, 
justice and peace, 
Mother Earth a garden of Eden again– 
the reconciliation of all things 
and one thing in particular. 

The suffering I choose 
is to hope, 
to hope and carry disappointment, 
picture what could be 
and grieve what it’s not, 
bearing unbearable brokenness. 

What else can I do? 
To let go of hope 
is to wed despair 
or sleepwalk through life. 

This suffering 
is not for nothing. 
You say the weight of my hoping and grieving, 
is making its own light. 

You say the weight of my suffering 
is forging something beautiful– 
an energy, a brilliance, a warmth,  
a light that 
lengthens days, 
buds snowdrops,  
and rolls stones away. 

See how the sorrow in you
slowly makes its own light…
–Jan Richardson, How the Stars Get in Your Bones

Credits and References:
Not Enough Darkness by weye Used with permission.
Making Light by Esther Hizsa, 2026
Early Rays by Thomas. Used with permission.

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2026.
The unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013-2026.  http://www.estherhizsa.com