A Prayer for Spiritual Sobriety

A Prayer for Spiritual Sobriety

O Presence who does not flicker,
Whose gaze does not buffer or break,
Draw me out from the illusion of being seen.
Strip from me the comforts that do not comfort,
The laughter that echoes only in circuits,
The faces that fade when I reach for them.

I confess:
I have fed on symbols and shadows.
I have traded mutuality for performance,
Attention for affection,
Noise for nearness.

Forgive me for forgetting what it is to be truly known.
Not watched.
Not measured.
Not liked.
But known.

I do not want to live behind glass.
I do not want to speak to avatars.
I want to be held by what is real—
Even if it is silent,
Even if it is slow,
Even if it hurts.

Break the spell.
Wake me gently.
Let my ache become a compass,
And my loneliness a doorway
To something true.

Amen.