Teresa of Ávila called locutions the single words that “contain a world of meaning such as the understanding alone could never put rapidly into human language.”
Everything is heavy right now. It has been so for some time and, somehow, it’s heavier still. Find a locution to center your soul and keep you awake when despair intends to lull you to sleep. This is vital to the mind, body, and spirit, individuals and communities. In seasons when suffering and sorrow tempt us to see only a barren present, locutions are mindful lifelines that help us take that next breath...and the next...and the next...
words
phrases
safety nets
in prose
or poetry
carbon ink
etched into the dermis
γρηγορεῖτε
stay awake
one liners
the unintelligible
spoken under our breath
screams into silence
cliche prayers
maybe
except when they
spare your life
or anxious mind
then locutions are
sacred
mystical
verbal narcan
that rescue
you
me
us
from an overdose
of this rat race
war-crazed
marginalizing
ridiculousness
called modern
less-than-life