 When you hear the word blessings, what comes to mind?
In the past, I often associated the word with being happy. If I’m more honest, I sometimes worried the word encouraged people to appear happy regardless of how they actually felt. More recently, as I’ve developed workshops on the topic of loss and grief, I’ve embraced blessings in a new way. I have the authors of some of my favorite collections of blessings to thank for a new understanding of and appreciation for blessings. Following the unexpected death of her husband, author and artist Jan Richardson began to write blessings. She explains the power she believes blessings can have: “Within the struggle, joy, pain, and delight that attend our life, there is an invisible circle of grace that enfolds and encompasses us in every moment. Blessings help us to perceive this circle of grace, to find our place of belonging within it, and to receive the strength the circle holds for us.” Richardson adds: “It came home to me that the most profound blessings we will ever know are those that meet us in the place of our deepest loss and inspire us to choose to live again.”
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 During a recent trip to Kentucky, I was reminded of the gifts of wonder and amazement. That reminder came—as it often has in my adult life—from two five-year olds.
The deliverers of this reminder, which came in two parts, are the twin grandchildren of longtime friends. Part one came as Bryce and I were admiring the vintage sports car her grandfather recently acquired. As I was commenting on the car’s beautiful color and pristine interior, Bryce called my attention to what she thought was the most amazing thing—windows you can lower and raise by cranking a handle. To Bryce, it was a thing of wonder. Even when I finally convinced her that, when I was her age, we used such handles on all car windows, Bryce’s amazement about her grandfather’s car windows was not diminished. |
Kathryn PalenAssociate Executive Minister Archives
August 2024
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