Morning Reflection — A Prayer for Perspective

It is raining oil in Tehran.

I hope today you step outside
and feel the cool air on your skin.

Look at the stars if they’re still out.
Or notice something living nearby.

And remember—
you don’t hear bombs.
You don’t smell smoke.
You are not standing under a sky dropping oil because your city is under attack.

This isn’t meant to make you feel guilty.

It’s meant to give us perspective.

Right now, many of us still have clean air to breathe,
drinkable water, and the freedom to walk outside and live our lives.

You could spend today feeling devastated about everything that might happen.

Or you could step outside and celebrate that you have today.

And then tomorrow, do it again.
And the day after that.
And with any grace at all—
the day after that too.

Maybe gratitude is one way to honor the innocent.

Not by ignoring suffering.
Not by wasting the gift of being alive.
But by holding reverence for what we have, where we are, and who we are.

And then letting that reverence shape how we move through the world.

Extending kindness.
Offering grace.
Creating a soft space where someone else can exhale.

Because the truth is, most of what happens in the world is outside our control.

But how we live today is not.

And this morning, as the words were leaving my mouth, I said something I almost didn’t want to say.

Because it can sound performative.
Like something people say when they want to look virtuous.

But it wasn’t that.

It was a plea.

God, use me.

Use me to bring comfort where I can.
Use me to create a moment of peace where there is so much noise.
Use me to remind someone that life is still here, still breathing, still sacred.

Because sometimes the pain in the world feels too big to hold.

And when I don’t know what else to do—

that is the prayer that comes out.