This has been a week on edge during a season in which we’ve become used to being on edge. As we consider the new waves of cases of COVID, as we still wait for the result of a bitterly contentious election, as we get tired of holding our breath and let it out for a moment, I offer this blessing from Jan Richardson. May it give you enough of an interruption to the stream of anxious thoughts and activities carrying you away, to allow you to take in the sun and warmth of this unusual November day. And may the light on your face be a blessing and a reminder of the deeper realities of grace and love that have always carried us through and will continue to sustain us through every new change and crisis.

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.

—

As we start our day, let us remember these words, with a slight adaptation at the end, from an18th century poet, Henri-Frederic Amiel: “Friends, we know that life is short and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. So be swift to love and make haste to be kind” and may the blessing of God or all that sustains you, keep you safe, grant you peace and fill you with all that you need, just for today. Amen