David, this piece entered like a hush after a storm. Not to erase the grief, but to sit beside it and gently ask, “And now, beloved, what will you make of this brokenness?”
You’ve captured something that most spiritual teachings skip too quickly past: that solace is not rescue, not escape, not even relief—but presence. Presence with what aches, what leaves, what cannot be named.
Reading this felt like being reminded that even the wound has a voice. Not one that explains, but one that invites. Not “Why me?” but “What now, with open eyes?”
Thank you for reminding us that we don’t need answers to shape beautiful lives—just the courage to live the questions fully, fiercely, and faithfully.
Thank you Aleksander, your own writing and voice is very fine too and carries a great deal of solace too, I hope you have a form for it that carries it to other people. DW
I am following you both! Alek on Substack, David on his “3 Sundays” offerings and on Substack. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the Divine that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” My Guardian Angels are showing me such wondrous doors…and guiding my intuition to open them (David: “the part of me that already knows…”) and (David: “Everything is Waiting for You!”) Glory Be to the Divine and Hallelujah! BTW -my notebook is growing rapidly! My other mantras:
“…it is not the easy nor convenient life for which I search, but life lived to the edge of all my possibilities…”
“…You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…”Imagine,” John Lennon.
And, yes, in case you’re curious, I’m 78. Bless you both. ❤️🙏❤️
I love this one. I keep finding new, intriguing ideas as I reread it. These two hit close to home right now:
Solace is found in allowing the body’s innate foundational wisdom to come to the fore
To look for solace is to learn to ask fiercer and more exquisitely pointed questions, questions that reshape our identities and our bodies and our relation to others, even if they do not earn an answer.
Truly beautifully expressed, as ever, dear David. I once took a vow at the top of a sacred mountain in India to be a "soothing healing presence in the world" and your words offer exactly that. And I have found myself to be that as I've kept company with loved ones at the end of their lives. You are deeply appreciated and loved. Clare (crosenfield9@gmail.com)
Acknowledging the question, even when you doubt that you’ll ever find the answer, even when living in the space of uncertainty is scary, somehow allows your soul to rest and find peace. You find that it’s not so bad as you thought; and there is space for faith, hope and even joy in the quiet moments we are blessed with.
Profoundly beautiful, and yet like many other seers, prophets and poets, not a word of loneliness, the most stigmatized spiritual state. -Dwight Lee Wolter, author, “The Gospel of Loneliness” (Pilgrim Press)
All said as if in first breath....belonging in identity....that evasive illusion of imagining to be in being real and even tangible one place somewhere in the world 🌎 on the shared planet, miles apart and yet, shared thinking in shared thought of being..........like you, like me, we're all here for one another, to be with one another, Learn with and from one another, be with one another. Seek for one another, have patience to wait for one another to come thro' in believing they might even be there, as we are here....in a space, sometimes a vacuum, often lost in a crowd, yet each in his her space of place in the existence of being andcrelating these days thro' a handheld gadget, believing beautiful photographs of a life there, somewhere out there, there must be such beautiful life still existent, the photo said so,...visible on the gadget, relating thro' words in the belief of real people being one day visible and tangible......to talk to, first hand.....then....more talk or does life begin then or continue as an illusion of life.....who has truth?
Who cares?
Does anyone share the truth they've found with another forcthe shared benefit of growth and continuum ?
On and on, where and when is touchdown?
When does life really begin once we find solace and in turn comfort in being, to expand to enlighten and to grow, create and share joy and expression of life, here on earth 🌎 while we still exist, one with another or one or another.....being, believing.......................................................searching until finding or being found..?
Lost or wandering in the oft times illusion of life put there, somewhere.....somehow....sometime................being still.................is this solace to be stationary or simply stuck in time......?
This is one of the most precise and devastatingly beautiful descriptions of what it means to keep going through grief. “Solace is not an answer but an invitation” stopped me in my tracksbecause so often we’re chasing resolution when what we really need is space to feel, to witness, to hold what hurts without needing it to vanish. Thank you for giving language to what so many of us feel but can’t articulate.
Asking and living the beautiful questions. I need to be reminded over and over of this profound wisdom. I'm so grateful for this post today of all days. Thank you David. <3
David, this piece entered like a hush after a storm. Not to erase the grief, but to sit beside it and gently ask, “And now, beloved, what will you make of this brokenness?”
You’ve captured something that most spiritual teachings skip too quickly past: that solace is not rescue, not escape, not even relief—but presence. Presence with what aches, what leaves, what cannot be named.
Reading this felt like being reminded that even the wound has a voice. Not one that explains, but one that invites. Not “Why me?” but “What now, with open eyes?”
Thank you for reminding us that we don’t need answers to shape beautiful lives—just the courage to live the questions fully, fiercely, and faithfully.
Thank you Aleksander, your own writing and voice is very fine too and carries a great deal of solace too, I hope you have a form for it that carries it to other people. DW
I am following you both! Alek on Substack, David on his “3 Sundays” offerings and on Substack. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the Divine that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” My Guardian Angels are showing me such wondrous doors…and guiding my intuition to open them (David: “the part of me that already knows…”) and (David: “Everything is Waiting for You!”) Glory Be to the Divine and Hallelujah! BTW -my notebook is growing rapidly! My other mantras:
“…it is not the easy nor convenient life for which I search, but life lived to the edge of all my possibilities…”
“…You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…”Imagine,” John Lennon.
And, yes, in case you’re curious, I’m 78. Bless you both. ❤️🙏❤️
I agree with David, your words are beautiful and perfectly complement his own😸🙏
I love this one. I keep finding new, intriguing ideas as I reread it. These two hit close to home right now:
Solace is found in allowing the body’s innate foundational wisdom to come to the fore
To look for solace is to learn to ask fiercer and more exquisitely pointed questions, questions that reshape our identities and our bodies and our relation to others, even if they do not earn an answer.
❤️
Also, I would love to step into that gorgeous picture!
Truly beautifully expressed, as ever, dear David. I once took a vow at the top of a sacred mountain in India to be a "soothing healing presence in the world" and your words offer exactly that. And I have found myself to be that as I've kept company with loved ones at the end of their lives. You are deeply appreciated and loved. Clare (crosenfield9@gmail.com)
Acknowledging the question, even when you doubt that you’ll ever find the answer, even when living in the space of uncertainty is scary, somehow allows your soul to rest and find peace. You find that it’s not so bad as you thought; and there is space for faith, hope and even joy in the quiet moments we are blessed with.
Yesterday in a conversation with a friend about the difference between doubt and mystery. And then reading this now, I found myself nodding.
" When life does not in any way add up, we must turn to the part of us that has never wanted a life of simple calculation."
Grateful for your voice...
Just where I was and just what I needed to hear. Thank you.
Profoundly beautiful, and yet like many other seers, prophets and poets, not a word of loneliness, the most stigmatized spiritual state. -Dwight Lee Wolter, author, “The Gospel of Loneliness” (Pilgrim Press)
Thank you! Needed very much this morning.
All said as if in first breath....belonging in identity....that evasive illusion of imagining to be in being real and even tangible one place somewhere in the world 🌎 on the shared planet, miles apart and yet, shared thinking in shared thought of being..........like you, like me, we're all here for one another, to be with one another, Learn with and from one another, be with one another. Seek for one another, have patience to wait for one another to come thro' in believing they might even be there, as we are here....in a space, sometimes a vacuum, often lost in a crowd, yet each in his her space of place in the existence of being andcrelating these days thro' a handheld gadget, believing beautiful photographs of a life there, somewhere out there, there must be such beautiful life still existent, the photo said so,...visible on the gadget, relating thro' words in the belief of real people being one day visible and tangible......to talk to, first hand.....then....more talk or does life begin then or continue as an illusion of life.....who has truth?
Who cares?
Does anyone share the truth they've found with another forcthe shared benefit of growth and continuum ?
On and on, where and when is touchdown?
When does life really begin once we find solace and in turn comfort in being, to expand to enlighten and to grow, create and share joy and expression of life, here on earth 🌎 while we still exist, one with another or one or another.....being, believing.......................................................searching until finding or being found..?
Lost or wandering in the oft times illusion of life put there, somewhere.....somehow....sometime................being still.................is this solace to be stationary or simply stuck in time......?
This is one of the most precise and devastatingly beautiful descriptions of what it means to keep going through grief. “Solace is not an answer but an invitation” stopped me in my tracksbecause so often we’re chasing resolution when what we really need is space to feel, to witness, to hold what hurts without needing it to vanish. Thank you for giving language to what so many of us feel but can’t articulate.
Asking and living the beautiful questions. I need to be reminded over and over of this profound wisdom. I'm so grateful for this post today of all days. Thank you David. <3
Amazing
Stunning! Thank you.
Perfect timing for me. Thank you.
Thank you. 🙏
Nice! Here is a song I wrote with solace theme -
https://open.substack.com/pub/christophermeestoerato/p/release?r=12utpl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false