The following poem was published in LCWR Occasional Papers, Summer 2015.

In search of the deep story
that unbinds hope,
uncorks imagination,

in search of the deep springs
that never fail,
the deep roots
that hold all you were
and are yet to be,

you will need
laser eyes
to pierce the surface,
to look again, and again,
for the buried gleam.

Listen, read, sing, weep
more than once,
more than twice.
Learn to chew slowly,
savor, sense
deep and subtle flavors.

Don’t stop at ground level.
Underneath what seems to be,
burrow deeper,
unearth what’s really happening,
find the crevices
where truth nests.

You will need
steel will to carve away
the non-essentials,
to make your peace
with all that is unfinished.
You will need a sturdy heart,
a torch to fire the gloom
as the way plunges deeper.

You will need great stones
to seal the caverns of fear and rage,
the voices of blame and regret.

You will let go
of what you thought absolute
and necessary.
You will need
what you never imagined.

Faith is a well,
a canyon,
an ocean.
It is the Challenger Deep
in the Mariana Trench.

Hold your breath and

dive

head first.

Not without cost,
this going deep.

You may not survive.

Trust you will find
the grace in the flow,
in the letting go.

–Regina Bechtle, SC