AS A WOMAN — A Poem by Homeward By Megan
As a woman, I rise each morning with a strength the world expects from me before my feet even touch the floor. I carry the lists, schedules, memories, the wounds I stitched together myself because nobody knew how deep they were.
As a woman, I have lived through storms I did not choose.
My name is Megan. I was molested by my uncle for four years— four years stolen, four years shaped by silence, four years that no child should ever have to survive. My first experience with sex was not love, not safety, but with a man who needed help long before he ever reached for me.
And though the world once tried to hand me shame, I refuse it. Because the truth is: I did not break him. He was already broken. And no one ever asked why.
This is why I speak now. Because men carry storms too— storms that turn into cycles when no one gives them a place to lay down their pain. A man who was never taught how to cry learns only how to shout. A man shamed for needing help learns to feel nothing at all. A man ignored in his hurt becomes a danger to himself and to the ones who love him.
A broken mom can wound a son, and that wounded son grows into a man still searching for the mother who never healed herself. A father who fails his daughter plants seeds of doubt that follow her into adulthood. A daughter raised in fear may become a mother raising fear again— not by choice, but by inheritance.
This is not me admitting defeat. This is me standing up and saying: The cycle stops here.
The man who hurt me needed help— real help—long before the day he crossed my path.
Purple has been our battle cry, and I honor every woman wearing it today. Your pain is real. Your strength is real. Your fight has carried us this far, and I will never stop standing with you.
But I believe the next step is bigger than one color.
So today, I am adding orange to the purple I already carry in my heart.
Orange— for the men who were forgotten. For the boys told to toughen up. For the fathers who cry alone. For the sons who grew up in silence. For the men whose pain becomes violence— not because they are monsters, but because they were never allowed to be human.
Orange— for healing that includes everyone. Orange— for truth we still haven’t spoken aloud. Orange— for the change we can only reach together.
As a woman, as Megan, as someone who has walked through fire, I choose to speak this truth:
If we want women truly safe, we must heal the men too. And healing begins when both sons and daughters can finally say, “I need help”— and someone answers.
Purple for the women who have carried the weight. Orange for the men who have never been allowed to put it down.
I’m wearing both. Because none of us are free until all of us are.
Breath of Prayer – Homeward Harmony Reflection
What if it is God who initiates conversation (prayer) within us, and all we need to do is simply let Him pray through us?
If this is true, then prayer is not an arduous task to manage, but a restful union to enjoy. Let’s see how this unfolds.
Did you know that the Jewish name for God – Yahweh (JH-VH) – was not spoken, but breathed? In Hebrew, only consonants are written. Richard Rohr explains:
“If you are an educated Jew you would have memorized the vowels and placed them appropriately. When you correctly pronounce the consonants in the sacred name Yahweh (JH-VH), you’ll notice you cannot use your tongue or close your lips. The sound you hear is like breath itself – inhalation and exhalation.”
On the inhale, you hear “YAH,” and on the exhale, “WEH.”
Why is this so profound?
In reverence, Jewish tradition avoided speaking God’s holy name. Instead, writers reflected the sound of breath, so that the very act of breathing was a way of honoring His name.
This has changed the way we see prayer. Too often, prayer feels like something we must initiate and sustain. But Romans 8:26 reminds us:
“If we do not know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. The Spirit does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs and our aching groans.”
Think about the times when prayer felt hard – when you were weary, broken, or too weak to form words. What if the reality is that God is already praying within you? That every breath you take is already calling out His name?
Pause. Notice your breath. Each inhale and exhale is His presence with you – the evidence of His grace.
Today’s Invitation: A Breath Prayer Practice
Let us engage in a simple, disciplined grace together:
Inhale: Yah
Exhale: Weh
Pause and set your intention to be fully present to God in this moment.
Breathe IN and say softly, “Yah.”
Breathe OUT and say gently, “Weh.”
Repeat three times.
Notice how your soul rests as your body breathes His holy name.
God is closer than your very breath. What an amazing grace this is.
