Message in the Ashes.

I want to start with this prayer.

It was lying among the ashes of the burnt Yurt. Just that burnt piece of paper from a magazine amidst the chaos of destruction. My eyes were instantly drawn to the image of Maria. In that moment, my first steps in the chaos after the fire, the confrontation with the irrevocable reality of destruction, Maria’s image emanated a strangely comforting energy, like a mother telling her daughter: “it’s gonna be all right, Claire….It’s all gonna be all right.”

When i read the prayer, or what was left of it, I could no longer deny that really, this could not be coincidence. The words, the incredible relevance, the fact that just that little piece of paper survived the hungry flames that took all the rest…no, this could not be coincidence. At that moment, and until today, i believe it was a message for me, for us. A message that gave me that one incredible force so much needed in that moment: Hope.

Yes, i believe in Miracles. Yes, i believe in a connection with the Universe. And yes, I believe in signs that appear in your life and show you the way, if you are open and aware of them.

I’ve read and re-read the prayer a hundred times. My mind has tried to find a meaning to it, but really, what matters is not the meaning. It is the emotion that it brings up, the undefinable, mysterious, sacred feeling that no matter what happens, something bigger is taking care of me. Every time I read it in moments of despair, it brings me faith and hope. When i feel vulnerable, it gives me strength.

And it reminds me that it is the Fire inside me that will bring me what I long for.