Here is a close-up of our newly painted living room. My husband and I are grateful for our mostly eastern orientation on our lot. On a clear day we love to see the sunlight drench the room for hours. This is the room in which I most often pray in centering prayer.  

Our music system is in another corner. A friend recently gave us Sacred Treasures V: From a Russian Cathedral, a CD of Russian Orthodox chanting that we are enjoying. 

Where do you most often pray? What space is most inviting in your home? What do you do in that area?

This is our latest interpretation of the living room in our house. My husband was kind enough to paint it one more time. I assisted in the tear down and recovery of the space. 

We have found this room to be an especially awkward one. It is also the one that we have worked on more than any other in our attempt to get it right. 

Our labors in our house mirror the labors in our family's life. The most awkward work required has taken most of our attention. 

Have you read The Help by Kathryn Stockett? In this novel from 2009, Stockett enters the world of black women as they spend their days working for white families in the south. The story is set the early 1960's. Skeeter, a white woman, interviews the black women working for her family, friends, and neighbors. Every woman involved is risking her livelihood and physical safety. But they do not flinch. Why? Why risk so much when there is next to no chance of justice being done? 

Minny, one of the maids wonders -- "And I am not saying the Miss Skeeter meetings are fun. Every time we meet, I complain. I moan. I get mad and throw a hot potato fit. But here's the thing: I like telling my stories. It feels like I'm doing something about it. When I leave, the concrete in my chest has loosened, melted down so I can breathe for a few days."

Telling your story may sometimes be easy and may sometimes be hard. But what a privilege, what a marvelous way to come alive.