HOPE
Creator and Sustainer of Time
Hold us close on this last day
of the year, as we disentangle unwelcome energies
from body and soul.
Spirit these burnt-out energies
away on the updraft of time.
Rejoice with us over past energies
that sustained and enlivened
our weary souls.
Bring us, we beg,
seasoned courage and hope
wafting on the currents of your love.
Creator and Sustainer of Time,
May it be so.
Amen
c. Rita Hemmer Kowats
December 31, 2021
Ever constant Light Splits open solid soul walls Life surprises dark.
This Christmas Eve I send blessings of light to all of you.
May we all receive what we need in this moment.
Blessing for the Longest Night All throughout these months as the shadows have lengthened, this blessing has been gathering itself, making ready, preparing for this night. It has practiced walking in the dark, traveling with its eyes closed, feeling its way by memory by touch by the pull of the moon even as it wanes. So believe me when I tell you this blessing will reach you even if you have not light enough to read it; it will find you even though you cannot see it coming. You will know the moment of its arriving by your release of the breath you have held so long; a loosening of the clenching in your hands, of the clutch around your heart; a thinning of the darkness that had drawn itself around you. This blessing does not mean to take the night away but it knows its hidden roads, knows the resting spots along the path, knows what it means to travel in the company of a friend. So when this blessing comes, take its hand. Get up. Set out on the road you cannot see. This is the night when you can trust that any direction you go, you will be walking toward the dawn. —Jan Richardson from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief
After a morning inundated with news of violence and the omicron variant sweeping with breakneck speed across the world, I am once again rescued by the Meister’s stunning insight into the essence of divinity, “God laughs and plays.” (Meister Eckhart)
Stuffed bird flew the coup At Ascot’s royal racing Racy Tweets Twitter
Sherlock sleuths out sleep Wherever he can find it- Exercise be damned.
Clap your hands believe Magic dances in wide eyes Resurrection Day
Its been a challenging morning for me here in my fifty-five+ apartment. Most of us are eons past fifty-five. I often see first responders arrive below my window and most of the time I am grateful for the opportunity to ponder my own mortality. Today is not one of those days. Sitting at the front door earlier I saw five first responders leave in somber silence, when often they leave in jovial camaraderie. Remembering that I’ve not seen Steve lately I went to his door to check and his U.S. Army flag was gone, likely draped on his coffin now. I let all my feelings have their say then turned to Jan Richardson for solace. Ahh. All is well. May you too receive what you need today.
Blessing When the World Is Ending Look, the world is always ending somewhere. Somewhere the sun has come crashing down. Somewhere it has gone completely dark. Somewhere it has ended with the gun, the knife, the fist. Somewhere it has ended with the slammed door, the shattered hope. Somewhere it has ended with the utter quiet that follows the news from the phone, the television, the hospital room. Somewhere it has ended with a tenderness that will break your heart.
But, listen, this blessing means to be anything but morose. It has not come to cause despair. It is simply here because there is nothing a blessing is better suited for than an ending, nothing that cries out more for a blessing than when a world is falling apart. This blessing will not fix you, will not mend you, will not give you false comfort; it will not talk to you about one door opening when another one closes. It will simply sit itself beside you among the shards and gently turn your face toward the direction from which the light will come, gathering itself about you as the world begins again. —Jan Richardson from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
Spirituality Without Borders: Reflections on Spiritual Practice 