Mother of suffering,
you carry the grief of the whole world
in your boundless, shattered heart.
Please, carry mine.
I know that the broken-open container
of your Mother's Heart
has room for us all:
for the women of Iraq and Rwanda,
Afghanistan and Bosnia,
Darfur and Burma,
Palestine and Israel,
whose innocent children are sacrificed every day
as victims of these senseless wars;
for parents in Los Angeles and Albuquerque,
London and Buenos Aires,
whose sons and daughters are killed in sudden car wrecks,
or die of lingering cancers,
or wrestle with the demons of addiction,
or languish in prison systems
specially designed to breed violence and hatred.
Your own sorrow has rendered you invincible, Mother.
I cannot bear these losses alone.
Please share them with me.

Mirabai Starr in Mother of God Similar to Fire