I Need to Breathe Deeply

by Ted Loder

Eternal Friend,

grant me an ease

to breathe deeply of this moment,

   this light,

      this miracle of now.

Beneath the din and fury

   of great movements

      and harsh news

         and urgent crises,

make me attentive still

   to good news,

      to small occasions,

         and the grace of what is possible

            for me to be,

               to do,

                  to give,

                     to receive,

that I may miss neither my neighbor’s gift

   nor my enemy’s need.