We are constantly assaulted from all directions. Violence and war, racial injustice, hunger, houselessness, pandemic, environmental disasters and chaos.
Frightened to withdraw. Cover ourselves with a hard shell. Cower.
But we feel how this diminishes us. This is not how we want to be.
Call your spirit back.
For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet (excerpts)
Do not hold regrets.
When you find your way to the circle, to the fire kept burning by the keepers of your soul, you will be welcomed.
You must clean yourself with cedar, sage, or other healing plant.
Cut the ties you have to failure and shame.
Let go the pain you are holding in your mind, your shoulders, your heart, all the way to your feet. Let go the pain of your ancestors to make way for those who are heading in our direction.
Ask for forgiveness.
Call upon the help of those who love you. These helpers take many forms: animal, element, bird, angel, saint, stone, or ancestor.
Call your spirit back. It may be caught in corners and creases of shame, judgment, and human abuse.
You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return. Speak to it as you would to a beloved child.
Welcome your spirit back from its wandering. It may return in pieces, in tatters. Gather them together. They will be happy to be found after being lost for so long.
Then, you must do this: help the next person find their way through the dark.
Harjo, Joy. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems (pp. 5-6). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.
Quakers, social justice and revolution 