Luke Durling
01/11/2025
I woke up one morning and felt a need to pray over the bowl of strawberries in front of me. I had just been watching the news and the endless stream of political ads that followed reports of refugees, death, an anger you could chew in strings of licorice wind, the continued conflict across the millennia. An entire city, world literally on fire. Suddenly, the cruise I had been planning seemed reckless and selfish, pooling money for my own adventures seemed cruel.
The strawberries were a bounty I could not repay either. So I prayed. In my soul, I know that action is louder. but in a world where strawberries can be made bitter from words alone, I found myself more grateful than I have ever been. I ate in somber peace, tartness stinging and sweetness singing on my tongue as the seeds burst forth. planted within me.
Calm and Cultured 