Last week we looked at some practices that build our resilience.

As we begin this week, here is a Blessing for mixed feelings.
We are glorious in our humanness, and that includes our feelings,
all of them.

God, they say feelings are a package deal. The yuck and the yum come bundled.

God, they say that all feelings are from you-it’s what we do with them that matters.

But what do we do when our feelings come not tidily trussed but messily tangled, like a fine silver chain that won’t be undone no matter how long we labor over it? It sits in a box waiting for a miracle-worker.

I take them out again, the pile of feelings. And this time, I ask you to bless them before I begin work:

Bless the anger and the irritation. Bless the gratitude and the joy-sparks. Bless the compassion and the selfishness, The fear and the courage, the gloom and the hope, The listlessness and the purposeful action. Bless the love in my life, and bless the distance- Emotional and physical – Between those I would reune with. Bless the stress, and bless the serenity.

Bless it all, the whole mess, and remind me that having a rainbow of feelings is your light, prismed into spectrum.

I feel a little more ease now. I can see where to begin, to gently untangle, pull there, push there, rest there…. And find how it all fits together in one unbroken, beautiful strand.

– Molly Baskette in Emerge: Blessings & Rituals for Unsheltering from the Stillspeaking Writers Group (2020)

May you get things done today.
May you feel deeply with the work.
Your presence makes all the difference today.

“A broad mosaic of churches from all 6 New England states collaborated to create this project,” (from the video post).
Members of churches throughout our region sing a beautiful blessing for all of us and our families. Take a listen and receive a blessing for you and your families today.

Today’s reflection is a reminder to all of us that we are not alone but together in this work of caring for our residents. And while it sometimes seem that we are made to bear this burden alone, especially as more and more people in the country begin to slough off precautionary responsibility, that thought, that lonely thought is not reality. You are in good company. I am in good company, “helping each other to make it through.” And many more besides who are carrying this with us: “singing with love and the will to trust.” May this song be an oasis of encouragement and refresh you at the start of this day.

One Voice
By The Wailin’ Jennys

This is the sound of one voice
One spirit, one voice
The sound of one who makes a choice
This is the sound of one voice

This is the sound of voices two
The sound of me singing with you
Helping each other to make it through
This is the sound of voices two

This is the sound of voices three
Singing together in harmony
Surrendering to the mystery
This is the sound of voices three

This is the sound of all of us
Singing with love and the will to trust
Leave the rest behind it will turn to dust
This is the sound of all of us

This is the sound of one voice
One people, one voice
A song for every one of us
This is the sound of one voice
This is the sound of one voice

As we listen to Lee’s advice to stay hydrated in these hot and humid days, we invite you also to listen to the still small voice of compassion in you that says, “easy does it.”

In crisis some of us are prone to over-function and this serves us well in healthcare, until we are running on fumes and have long gotten used to the warning lights on our dashboard telling us to take some time for respite. This caring in the midst of a sustained crisis is a marathon, or a series of marathons. And pacing and flexibility, caring for our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our spirits, is key to endurance and recovering well as individuals and as a community.

So we echo Lee’s words about hydration, and also encourage that you remember that rest is an integral part of work, not just the collapsing at the end of the day, but the breaks, the breaths, the moment to calm yourself after something that shakes you.

The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber this past Sunday offered a down to earth prayer for our times and this morning we wanted to share it with you paired with the photo she uses in her blog entry.

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28-30

The Global Ageing Network is encouraging us to remember all the elders who have died in this pandemic, today, July 9^th.

Please stop by the chapel to light a candle in remembrance of all the elders we have lost. If you are unable to come to the chapel, email or call the Spiritual Care & Education Department and we will light one for you.

May all be at peace.

Blessings on your day-

Michelle

I don’t know about you but I want to be by the ocean (especially on a day like today or yesterday or the day before).

This is a video I took from Acadia National Park in Maine last May and it is paired with Joel’s gorgeous voice singing “The Water is Wide”.

The water is wide before us and we don’t know what storms are coming ahead of us but we can get across together.

Peace and may you be the Peace you hope for the world.

Rev. Michelle DeCoste