The Zipper

There are parts of us we keep zipped up.Not because they don’t matter,but because they matter too much.Early in life, we learn how to pull the zipper up:over pain,over questions,over memories that still ache when touched.And from the outside,everything looks put together:neat,contained,safe.But healing doesn’t happenin what’s sealed.At some point, we feel it,that gentle pull,that quiet invitation to unzip.Not all at once.Not recklessly.But intentionally.Because what’s hidden cannot be healed,and what’s covered cannot breathe.And maybe courageisn’t in having it all together…maybe it’s in slowly unzippingthe places we have kept closed,and trusting that what’s insidewon’t destroy us,but restore us.Healing beginswhere the zipper opens. “Search me, O God, and know my heart;test me and know my anxious thoughts.See if there is any offensive way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting.”— Psalm 139:23