A Year of Sundays: 4/27/25 – 17th

Whew! What a week.

Laws are changing. Tariffs are shifting. Cosmic events unfold. And through it all, a profound uncertainty lingers. I found myself grasping—daily—for grounding. In fact, there was not a single day last week where I didn’t have to pause and recalibrate. That recalibration became my silent prayer, my internal compass trying to point true north amid chaos.

And then I remembered: opportunities often wear the disguise of discomfort. Each unexpected detour offered me a choice—to spiral or to stand still. To panic or to pray. To root myself in practices that reconnect me to something deeper than the headlines.

This week, I rediscovered an old friend: my childhood rosary. Along with it, a beloved book my mother once gifted me—Prayers for All Occasions from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (n.d.). These prayers offered not just comfort but structure—a rhythm that soothed my spirit in the midst of global dissonance.

But this Sunday, I also reflected on the spiritual teachings from other traditions, each offering its own language for inner balance and resilience:

• From Buddhism, Thích Nhất Hạnh (1999) teaches:“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”This week, I practiced mindful breathing during moments of anxiety—just three conscious breaths before speaking, reacting, or even reaching for my phone. It helped me reground, again and again.

• From Islam, the practice of sabr (patience) is seen as a virtue and form of spiritual surrender. Al-Ghazālī (2001) emphasized that “true patience is beautiful,” a concept that teaches stillness not as resignation, but as divine trust.In times when I felt helpless against the news cycle, I tried to embody sabr—not denial, but a kind of quiet strength.

• From Indigenous spirituality, particularly within Lakota philosophy, prayer and ritual are embedded in daily life, not reserved for emergencies. As Black Elk (Neihardt, 2008) once said:“The sacred hoop of life is one.”This week, I stepped outside, touched the ground, and simply offered thanks to the earth. A small act—but one that felt powerfully connective.

Each tradition, in its own way, reminds us that we have tools—rituals, breath, sacred texts, daily prayers—that bring us back to balance. The goal is not to avoid turmoil, but to find stillness within it.

Today, I move forward with grace, grateful for the universal thread across faiths: that we can root ourselves in intention, surrender, and hope.

References

Al-Ghazālī. (2001). The ninety-nine beautiful names of God (D. B. Burrell & N. Daher, Trans.). Islamic Texts Society. (Original work published ~11th century)

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. (n.d.). Prayers for all occasions.

Hanh, T. N. (1999). The miracle of mindfulness: An introduction to the practice of meditation. Beacon Press.

Neihardt, J. G. (2008). Black Elk speaks: Being the life story of a holy man of the Oglala Sioux (21st ed.). University of Nebraska Press. (Original work published 1932)