The most important elements of any relationship are trust and respect. When you trust someone enough to be honest with them, you grow to respect them and yourself. Where there is trust and respect, intimacy resides. When you are afraid to let others see you exactly as you are, you are bound to lack fulfillment and satisfaction.
-- Iyanla Vanzant

You laid your head on a welcoming lap for a tender hand to caress and comfort it and tell you the world isn’t such a bad place. You can lie there in that lap for as long as you want to and even cry if you need to. You can watch a soothing candle burning in your view and listen to the soft sounds in the background, the sound of guitars and waves on a breezy summer night along a secluded gulf bordering the shores of the Atlantic, or Pacific, or Mediterranean. You can rest assured under the touch of that hand that the world is not such a bad place.

Your favorite meal was prepared and dessert is just around the corner. There are no voices except that of the one caressing your head. In the peaceful quiet, the voice speaks softly to you, saying “I want always to know who you are at every change in your life. Even if who you are becomes someone I don’t understand. Tell me, show me what I need to do or be when you’re in a mood, any mood, when your moods change. Teach me how to love you during your changes.

“You’ve trusted me with you. You’ve put yourself in my hands. I pray to God each day that my hands remain strong so that I can care for you in the ways you need. I love you, every part of you, your habits, both the sane and the insane, your moods and melody. You are a beautiful song. I even love that you turn the toilet tissue this way instead of that way and that you put empty ice trays back in the freezer.

“I love your one hip that’s higher than the other and the stories you tell me about growing up belittling those hips. I love you even more as you share with me the woes of the bewildered journeys you’ve taken just to be the person you are today. I’m listening when you say it wasn’t easy so I can be sure you never have to experience those kinds of difficult times with me. I love laughing with you – remember when we did that crazy thing, how we laughed into the wee hours of the morning? I love you laughing.

“And thank you for not turning me away when I was hurting bad last week. Thanks for being available for me. That meant a lot. You know I’ve never felt at ease letting my guard down, I was always taught not to. You allowed me to spill my fears at your feet and you didn’t judge me or snub me, and you didn’t receive my stuff as though it were a burden to you or our life together. You were kind and open and willing to let me not have to be strong or tough at that moment in my life. You just took my stuff, helped me lay it at the altar, and you prayed for me. Thank you for the way you loved me, the way you loved me through that. It made me feel safe. I’ve never felt so free. Or whole. Or healed.

“This world is not such a bad place with love like this.

“Are you ready for dessert now?”

Sadiqqa © 2007