A blessing for times of crisis and chaos

During these days when the planetary movement is a rock-‘n-roll ride and many a wild card is being tossed in the air, may you feel the depth of your soul, the strength of your spirit, and the tenderness of your heart.  You are needed during these tumultuous times.

When the balance in your life has been shattered and you have been punched in the gut by loss and devastation, may you feel your angels and guides, ancestors and allies holding you closer.  You are not alone during these tumultuous times.

When you are exhausted, empty, and bone weary, may you give yourself permission to rest and to be.  You can surrender during these tumultuous times.

When you feel that hope belongs to the past, may you open yourself to possibility and allow yourself to breathe, breathe, breathe. You can connect to your life during these tumultuous times.

When you feel defenseless and vulnerable, may you feel the unseen arms of God around you. You are never alone during these tumultuous times.

When you are filled with terror and fear and your ears echo with an inner howling, may you find the deeply hidden and belonging-only-to-you, safe, inviolate sanctuary within your being where no one can hurt you. You can have a safe place during these tumultuous times.

When you are knee-deep in pain and rolling in crazy-making grief, may you honor the profound experience of your being and become like the water that flows in a myriad of forms of contraction and expansion. You can, when the moment is right, find hard-won acceptance during these tumultuous times.

When you are lost and adrift with no anchor to call home, may you remember who you are and the multitudinous gifts, graces, hard knocks, and experiences that make you the one-of-a-kind, kick-ass human being that you are. You can be survivor during these tumultuous times.

 

© Adele Ryan McDowell

 

Jan Richardson’s Blessing the House of the Heart

Blessing the House of the Heart

pinkheart
If you could see
the way this blessing
has inscribed itself
on every wall
of your heart,
writing its shining line
across every doorway,
tracing the edge
of every window
and table
and hall—
if you could see this,
you would never question
where home is
or whether it has
a welcome for you.
This blessing wishes
to give you
a glimpse.
It will not tell you
it has been waiting.
It will not tell you
it has been keeping watch.
It would not
want you to know
just how long
it has been holding
this quiet vigil
for you.
It simply wants you
to see what it sees,
wants you to know
what it knows—
how this blessing
already blazes in you,
illuminating every corner
of your broken
and beautiful heart.
—Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow

“A blessing meets us in the place of our deepest loss. In that place, it gives us a glimpse of wholeness and claims that wholeness here and now.”

—from the Introduction of The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief

Jan’s much-anticipated new book enters with heartbreaking honesty into the rending that loss brings. It moves, too, into the unexpected shelters of solace and hope, inviting us to recognize the presence of love that, as she writes, is “sorrow’s most lasting cure.”

Deep peace to you

ARM hoshi moon in trees

This traditional Gaelic blessing is both meditation and prayer to me. The cadence and rhythm of the words moves me into a place of stillness and expansiveness.

In our topsy-turvy, fast-paced world, may I offer you this bouquet of soulful words.

 
Deep peace, deep peace of the running wave to you;
Deep peace of the flowing air to you;
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you;
Deep peace of the shining stars to you;
Deep peace of the gentle night to you;
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace to you.
Deep peace to you.

—Traditional Gaelic Blessing