Category Archives: Blessings

Potential

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Potential

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for potential—
a door ajar,
a hint of what I can’t see.
What is there?

Blessed are You
for potential
to give and receive,
comfort and be comforted,
see and be seen—
relational miracles.

Blessed are You
for creative energy
to birth poems and essays,
make spring rolls and peanut sauce,
weave laughter through dinner and bedtime.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe, for this—
Potential means I don’t know.
Not knowing means I’m not in control.
Not controlling means I’m free to love.
And love makes even the impossible possible.
Potential.

Green fruit has potential to become ripe.
Ripe fruit is potent with flavor and satisfaction.
Empty things have potential to be filled with anything—even dust and spiders.
Full things contain possibilities for all kinds of creation.
Best of all, potential is NOT something I can DO.

At Home in the Dark

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At Home in the Dark

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for making it clear
that life is not about improving
myself
or anyone else.

Blessed are You
for not bettering me
so much as standing with me,
proving by Your presence
that nothing is needed
except love.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for Your love unflinching,
beyond logic and practicality,
beyond physical and emotional limits.
You leaned lovingly into death
and took up Your life again in love,
demonstrating that love
is at home in the dark
and in the light—
improbable,
unstoppable,
enough.

Winter Luck

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Winter Luck

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for kids on our couch—
friends, cousins, classmates—
a dozen charming faces,
watching a movie.

Blessed are You
for blankets and giggles,
snacks and wiggles,
here in my living room.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for school vacation,
winter sunshine,
gingerbread cookies,
and the ability
not only to know I’m lucky
but to feel it—joy!

Rich Notes

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Rich Notes

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
Queen of the Universe,
for music—
the sound of feelings;
the sound of deep knowledge
too meaty, or mystical,
for words.

Blessed are You
for my favorite song,
captivating me still,
aural delight,
richer even than I remembered.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
Queen of the Universe,
for music—
a pile of invitations,
to laugh, weep, dance,
sing in the kitchen,
turn up the radio,
raise our hands, as if reaching
to toast Heaven with a glass
of our best and richest creation,
notes and words,
instruments and voices,
breaking us wide open,
intimacy with You,
our divine Mother.

Evolution of Joy

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Evolution of Joy

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for happiness, unexpected.
I feel buoyant, excited even.
How did this happen?

For more than twenty-five years
I thought my life
was a job well done.
For ten more years
I served my life
as a sentence.
Today? Life is
an invitation.
Blessed are You, Lord,
for this evolution.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for inviting me
to a preexisting fullness
and a predetermined wealth,
the pleasure of being me.

Imagine it—joy,
not because I earned it,
but rather,
here it is in front of me—
the sky at dawn,
fleece leggings and slippers,
London fog to warm my hands and belly,
Phiona-cat’s antics,
pomegranates divided into bumpy wedges,
JJ Heller Christmas songs,
the smell of gingerbread in the oven.
Blessed are You, Lord,
for this revolution.

Twilight

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Twilight

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for evening.
Trees slip into black pajamas
as color drains from the sky,
pooling at the edges,
vivid feather boas draping the sun.

Blessed are You
for slowness of twilight,
a dissolving that escapes notice
until I get distracted,
and looking back to the sky,
find it changed.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for those things that spark alive
even as I dim.
Owls and mice open their eyes,
stars twinkle, dew forms,
and streams gurgle night music.
My ears attune as my eyes rest,
kissed to sleep by the softness of twilight.

November

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I’m trying a different poem style this week. It’s challenging to rhyme after writing so much free verse poetry! It’s a different kind of week, kids home from school, extra time in the kitchen, gatherings with extended family. I’m grateful for each of you in the @jesusmyfavoritesubject family. Thank you for seeing me, and allowing me to see you.

November

In this month of gratitude
I struggle with a bad-itude.
I do not love this ugly mood
Or how my heart feels misconstrued.

My kids are not a quiet brood.
Today their antics light my fuse.
My inner peace they now intrude
Until I beg for solitude.

I am allowed disquietude,
But I’m not victim of my mood.
It’s likely this month will include
Both thoughtless acts and moments shrewd.

So I will eat Thanksgiving food,
Refrain from being trite or rude;
When we give thanks I will include
Some words of sincere gratitude.

Grace is not a platitude
And Love is wide in magnitude.
Here I belong, so I conclude
There’s latitude for attitude.

Whiskers

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Whiskers

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for whiskers—
wiggly on rabbit cheeks,
dainty on mice,
captivating on a lion yawning,
cute on a kitten.

Blessed are You
for whiskers on my man,
reassuring to my face
as I lie against him,
warm under the comforter.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for being my whiskers,
sensing what lies ahead,
informing my movements,
showing what my eyes don’t see,
ever-faithful guardian.

Mad

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Mad

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for anger,
thorny path to passion,
showing me
what I care enough to fight for,
and whose good opinion I seek.

Blessed are You
for the reminders, daily,
that I am not in control.
I want to shout until I am,
bend the world with anger
until it makes sense,
until my children listen.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for burning fury
unearthing expectations
I didn’t know I had.
I’m not clear on what “holy anger” is,
but I think You get mad sometimes too,
when Your kids pick on each other.
Even so, Your reckless love embraces me
when my anger is wholly unholy.

Childhood Memories

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Childhood Memories

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for a thousand nights
falling asleep to Daddy’s guitar,
waking up to the sound of Mommy opening
the heavy curtains in the living room,
curtains she made.

Blessed are You
for frozen banana cream on warm cornbread,
buckets of succulent, sugary blackberries,
and the midday vegetable juice
I sometimes poured out
between the porch boards.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for walks up Corn Creek Road,
one litter each of puppies and kittens,
rides in the green cart piled with dry cut grass,
the certainty of my parents’ faithfulness
to life and to each other,
under it all like bedrock.