There are forces that flow
Through this universe.
Forces of life, of death,
of good, of evil.
Today a person dies.
Tomorrow a child is born.
We witness these events and
Stand in awe
At the holy immensity of it all.
Sometime we are swept up,
Blown around,
Knocked to the ground
By these powers
That we cannot see or hear,
Understand or control.
We stand as witnesses,
To the forces of evil,
To the oceans of love.
We stand as witnesses
To hearts broken open
With sorrow,
To voices speaking quietly
With courage.
We stand as witnesses,
Holding these sacred spaces,
Remembering and trusting
That our presence
Is enough.
Stand witness.
Be present.
Trust.
All the Wonders 
Susan Sarandon, in the movie Shall We Dance, is a suspicious wife who hires a private investigator to spy on her husband. At once point, she and the investigator talk. She says, “Why do people get married anyway?” And he says, “Passion!” She says, “No, I don’t think so. We need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.”
Sandy Hodge once told me that she was sorry that she would not live to “be a witness to my life.” So now I am a witness to hers – and for her.
Mike, this is amazing and beautiful. And though we are not married (😊) we are witnesses to you and the ways you gift the world. Thank you for sharing Sandy with us.
Such truth, such reality in this writing. Thus, that is what makes it so meaningful.
Thank you, Monie.