Ryan Christensen

“Prayer Before the Prayer I want to be willing to forgive But I dare not ask for the will to forgive In case you give it to me And I am not yet ready I am not yet ready for my heart to soften I am not yet ready to be vulnerable again Not yet ready to see that there is humanity in my tormentor’s eyes Or that the one who hurt me may also have cried I am not yet ready for the journey I am not yet interested in the path I am at the prayer before the prayer of forgiveness Grant me the will to want to forgive Grant it to me not yet but soon Can I even form the words Forgive me? Dare I even look? Do I dare to see the hurt I have caused? I can glimpse all the shattered pieces of that fragile thing That soul trying to rise on the broken wings of hope But only out of the corner of my eye I am afraid of it And if I am afraid to see How can I not be afraid to say Forgive me? Is there a place where we can meet? You and me The place in the middle The no man’s land Where we straddle the lines Where you are right And I am right too And both of us are wrong and wronged Can we meet there? And look for the place where the path begins The path that ends when we forgive”
― Desmond Tutu, The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World

“Forgiveness is truly the grace by which we enable another person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew.”
― Desmond Tutu, The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World

“Silence is not emptiness but an alert unfocusing focus on subtle rhythms that join our interiority to the natural world.”
― Robert Sardello, Silence: The Mystery of Wholeness

“Dr. Keeney’s work marks the beginning of an awakening of the universal life force that is accessible to everyone. I have personally experienced his method of moving the life force in my own body—circulating it up and down my spine, passing it through my fingertips, and feeling it tingling the tips of my toes. It is time for each of us to become acquainted with this energizing force.” DR. ROBERT FULFORD, AUTHOR OF DR. FULFORD’S TOUCH OF LIFE: ALIGNING BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT TO HONOR THE HEALER WITHIN”
― Bradford P. Keeney, Shaking Medicine: The Healing Power of Ecstatic Movement