Category Archives: Blessings

Color Changing Faith

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Color Changing Faith

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe,
for changing light, reminding me that what I see
is both an object, and the light that shines on it.

Blessed are You for trees
green at midday, black at dusk;
for mountains like theater backdrops—
textureless gray, lively blues and browns,
white, or black—a daily show.

Blessed are You for shadows
dividing our world into darks and lights,
for rain that paints everything shiny,
and sun that re-paints with a matte finish.

Blessed are You for shifting colors,
reminding us that what we see—
of You and ourselves, scripture and stories,
human words and action—
changes with the light, allowing nuance
or even black and white.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe,
for a physical world of changing appearances,
allowing us to release the need
for a spiritual world of unchanging appearance,
to embrace shadows
or the shock of seeing the same thing
in a quite different color,
the beauty of unfolding life.

Insides Wiggle Out

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Insides Wiggle Out

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe,
for wiggles—
unrefined thrusts of a baby’s arms and legs,
tapping of my husband’s foot at the dinner table,
juvenile explosion of motion in the back seat
on the drive home from school.

Blessed are You for gifting us movement,
a continuous giving—
our muscles and limbs expressing
anxiety, desire, welcome, fear,
the literal shaking of sorrow.

Blessed are You
for leaves that twist back and forth on repeat
like my leg when I’m sitting in church;
for dogs that wiggle joy from end to end
like I do when hubby—still cold from outside—
picks me up in a tight squeeze;
for pond ripples that ceaselessly distort
the surface of the water,
like my anxiety, insisting I cannot be still.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe,
for giving me a body to invite my insides out,
to hug and kiss, tap and wiggle,
jump and shiver,
curl into fetal position, or sprawl in sunshine—
movement that both affirms and releases
my inner world.

Time Unmeasured

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Time Unmeasured

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for the times when we forget time—
that endless measuring
of eggs boiling
and appointments approaching,
fevers and heartbeats,
days away from home.

Blessed are You
for sacred moments—
talking long into the night,
time interrupted by friendship;
for routines interrupted by joy,
or sorrow
or sudden awareness of a bird
on the windowsill.

Blessed are You
for the impromptu dance party
and the phone call
I didn’t have time for,
that slipped past
the measuring of time,
and became my favorite
moments of the day.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for the smell of a freshly peeled orange,
giggles in the kids’ bedroom,
kisses,
which abruptly align me
with the moment I’m in—
evidence that being alive is timeless.

Holy Dirt

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Holy Dirt

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for dirt—
soft enough to nurture a seed,
yet strong enough to anchor a tree.

Blessed are You
for the ground we walk on,
blessed brown substance.
It holds water for growing things
or softens into luscious, liquidy magic,
perfect for pigs, or three-year-olds.
It holds fence posts and foundations,
or allows us to dig even deeper,
to bedrock or water or oil.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for children and gardeners,
builders and farmers,
whose hands and fingernails
bear evidence of the blessing
(even after a good washing)
and return day after day
to the soil, remembering
what the rest of us have forgotten—
that dirt is sacred.

Fearless Curiosity

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Fearless Curiosity

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for invitations,
offers,
questions.

Blessed are You
for openings that invite curiosity
about myself
and about the opportunity in front of me.
I hold the two up together,
see if they match—
like socks in the laundry.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for valuing me categorically,
which allows me to be interested
rather than fearful,
curious instead of compelled.
Whatever is in front of me
will neither shackle me
nor set me free,
for only You hold the keys
to love and belonging.

Sacred Space-Holder

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Sacred Space-Holder

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for comforting me,
inviting me to find relief
in this mystery:
You are hidden in me,
and I am hidden in You.

Blessed are You
for holding open
a sacred space
big enough for me—
my loneliness and fear,
tiredness and anger,
sadness and failure—
all of this somehow fits
in Your embrace.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for being big enough
and small enough
to hold me.

It Is Finished

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It is finished

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for darkness—
daily invitation to rest—
to be quiet in ink-dark night
or a night moonlit and star-twinkled.

Blessed are You
for spirit rest,
my insides sitting down,
breathing deep,
inhaling Life.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for the authority of rest
to dethrone “right” and “wrong,”
straining and struggling,
worth by performance,
and value by others’ opinions of me.

Blessed are You
for this sacred act of resistance,
this radical move to stop moving,
this subversive whisper
suggesting that rest is a nap—
but also more—
a knowing
that what is most important
is already done.
“It is finished.”

Suspended Together

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Suspended Together

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for loss of relationship—
emptiness that remind me
I was full,
sting that affirms I am still tender,
able to feel.

Blessed are You
for relationships suspended,
dangling in midair,
reminding me that You
are in the waiting too.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for grace to stay open
when fear would snap me shut,
and courage to hold space—to wait—
though self-protection insists
an open heart is dangerous.

Blessed are You
for Your presence in me,
affirming me—
I am treasured,
whether frozen solid
and cold as ice,
or warm and soft
as a fresh-baked cookie.

Vote of Confidence

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Vote of Confidence

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for courage
and determination
and bravery.

Blessed are You
for creating a world that carries on—
despite the rise and fall of kingdoms
and oceans,
despite racism and genocide,
shifting tectonic plates
and standards of justice.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for a world that falls
and gets back up again
every day.

Blessed are You
for blessing us with life
when anyone else might have
called it off millennia ago.
This carrying on is like quiet voice
speaking, “You’ve got this.”

Holding Hands

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Holding Hands

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for Your gigantic hands,
capable of holding
next weekend’s to-do list,
a relationship on pause,
the unknown—
everything I spin and squeeze
in my tense mind and muscles.

Blessed are You
for holding me,
tiny though I may be,
in the safest and most intimate corner
of Your largeness,
where Your attention is entirely mine.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for this awareness—
I am Your favorite.
I have Your serenade,
Your favor,
Your secrets whispered in my ear,
my small hand in Your expansive one.

Photo by TranStudios Photography & Video: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-holding-hands-3153823/