It's Still Life

#11 Liturgy for the Advice You Did Not Want
(for the wisdom that arrives disguised as a suggestion)

I. The Voice That Speaks Softly

The advice came quietly,
as a suggestion,
offered with the lightness
of someone who knows
you will not listen at first.

It was wise,
it settles like a stone
in quiet water.

But you did not want it,
because wisdom
is often the hardest to accept.

II. The Bedevilment of Curiosity

Curiosity is a restless thing,
it does not like to be told no.
It wants to hold the fire,
touch the flame,
see for itself
what the wise voice has already seen.

What if there is another way?
What if I am different,
and the rules do not apply?

So you resist.
You turn the advice over,
look at it from all sides,
search for the flaw,
that lets you keep your freedom.

III. The Weight That Will Not Lift

But the advice does not leave.
It is a quiet presence,
a patient companion.

You carry it through the day,
through meals,
conversations,
small decisions
that seem separate from the big one.

And slowly,
you begin to feel its weight,
as truth
that has been waiting.

IV. The Moment of Surrender

So you take the advice.
Not because you have been defeated,
but because your conscience
will not let you do otherwise.

It is not called failure.
It is a recognition.
You have seen
what wisdom saw.
It is a giving in
to truth..

V. For the One Who Finally Listens

Take the advice that arrived gently.
forgive the curiosity that fought it.

See the moment you listened,
may it be a door,
not a defeat,
you took the advice
because you were ready.

Wisdom does not always arrive with thunder.
Sometimes it comes as a whisper.
And the greatest courage
is not in resisting,
but in finally hearing.