There's No Where to Go, So...
Recalling when I quit striving and tried staying
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I'm Sojo—the contemplative guide and voice behind Selah + Savor, a sacred space to savor the intersection between holy pause and contemplative action.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?” —Psalm 139:7
I’ve carried that question—not as rebellion, but as bewildered prayer.
For months, I tried to birth this space—
to find language gentle enough,
truth weighty enough
to hold the weight of what I’ve lived:
the slow ache of navigating chronic illness,
the persistent grief of progressive loss,
and the lament for a world quick to extract,
but slow to shelter.
Nothing felt right until I gave up trying.
I didn’t find the words. I ran out of them.
And in the silence that followed, God whispered something deeper than language.
This story wasn’t born in strength.
It came through surrender—through a hollowed-out place where I could no longer press forward, where breath itself felt heavy.
And there, in that descent, He met me.
Not to lift me out, but to sit with me inside.
If you’ve ever felt abandoned in the valley, if your cries have fallen like stones into silence, if you’ve wondered whether God still sees—So have I.
And I’ve come to know:
He does.
And He is already with you in the hollow.
Stay in the Hollow
There are places we feel we’re hidden—even from God.
In the weariness.
In the unspoken grief.
In the shame of needing rest when the world demands performance.
But in the hollow, I discovered that God doesn’t recoil from our brokenness or emptiness.
He receives it.
Because He didn't design us to endure conditions that break and empty us.
He enters it.
To make even the darkness radiant with His presence.
This is not a call to try harder.
It’s an invitation to stop running.
To stop climbing.
To stay here for a while.
To surrender—not to defeat, but to a deeper love.
Breath Prayer
Inhale: I release my striving.
Exhale: I rest in Your presence.
Inhale: I will wait here with You.
Exhale: I savor the beauty in these ashes.
Reflective Prompt
Are there parts of yourself you’ve tried to escape or outrun?
What if God is already waiting in those places—not to change you, but to be with you?
Closing Invitation
If this met you where you are, I’d love to hear from you.
Leave a comment, share it with someone who might need the reminder, or simply sit with the stillness a little longer.
And if you’d like a visual companion to this reflection, be sure to subscribe for free below to receive In the Hollow, a printable devotional zine.
This week, you may notice a few more offerings flowing your way as we prepare to soon open a Contemplative Arbor—a sacred space where soul-tending resources and visual companions will live and grow.