Blessings from our Sacred Reading with Students Group
During our Sacred Reading Group, Jack Salt and Haley Hamblin shared with us the sacred practice of offering blessings. They invited us to write a blessing for one of the characters in Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. Take a peak at some of the blessings we wrote:
Haley Hamblins's Blessing:
Lord, bless our hands,
Some are nimble, dainty, or sore
Others are strong, calloused, or scarred.
Bless the curvatures of our fingers;
How they tell stories of struggle, work, and activity.
Bless the veins and creases, the lines of life.
May you bless our hands as they reach out in love,
Hold others with care,
Write stories of peace and justice,
And do the work of reconciliation.
Lord, bless our eyes,
As they strive to see the world around us.
Bless the eyes that see beauty and suffering
And the heart that tries to reconcile the existence of both.
Bless our eyes that see the brightness of the sun and darkest depth of night.
And give us the power to discern the shadows present within each.
Bless the eyes that see – truly see– the essence of another
The eyes that do not judge, gaze voyeuristically, or sit idle,
But eyes that pierce the veil of niceties and respectability
To love all, just as they are.
Lord, bless our hearts, souls, and minds,
The most intimate parts of ourselves;
The places of our wrestling,
The source of connection to community and world.
Bless those parts of our innermost being that only You can reach.
Lord, bless us in our reading
Bless the hands that hold the book,
The eyes that read the words,
The mind that seeks to understand,
The heart that connects with characters and stories,
And the soul that seeks for the sacred present in it all.
Amen.
A Blessing for Mr. Richardson by Kathi Callaway
God, bless Mr. Richardson as he defends his clients
May he see them as the wonderful friends and neighbors they are
May he see their qualities as Mirabelle’s parents shine through
May he see the gratitude they have at finally having a baby of their own to raise
May he see the horrible struggle they are going through during this trial
God, bless Mr. Richardson as he defends his clients
May he see Bebe as the wonderful person she is
May he see Bebe’s qualities as May Ling’s mother shine through
May he see the gratitude that Bebe has at being able see and interact with May Ling
May he see the horrible struggle she is going through during this trial
God, bless Mr. Richardson as he defends his clients
May he have the strength to defend his clients even in the face of his doubts
May he have the grace to defend his clients even in the face of those doubts
May he have the integrity to do his job, while having the right to have those doubts
God, may he have the faith in You that he needs to get through this trial with this internal struggle going
on in his soul
Prayer by Cristy Carroll
I come with a thankful heart to give thanks for my passion, my energy, and my drive.
Help me to discover the right path, my path, my path toward belonging.
Lord, help me find my place and to marry my passion with my desire to fit in, to fully belong.
Blessing by Cristy Carroll
Bless those who are making impossibly difficult choices.
Bless those parts of us that make those choices, our heart, and our mind.
Bless us when the consequences of the choices are absolutely life-giving and when
they are life taking or send a life into new challenges far beyond our comprehension.
Bless us for not letting those choices be made for us, but when we are courageous
enough to make those choices for ourselves.
Bless those who make choices in love in the midst of struggles that I cannot fully appreciate.
A Prayer & Two Blessings by Don Carroll
The theme I went with which resonated for me was the uncertainties of the lives of the characters; certainly Mia and Pearl, but also all the Richardson teenagers; we live with important, but taken for granted decisions each day maybe more than we realize.
Prayer for One Day
Loving God,
Just for today, I pray to experience your love
that I might receive clarity about the truth of each moment
to discern your will for me in this unfolding day;
I pray for curiosity to be teachable that I might
respond to life not out of fear or anger, but from your love;
I pray for patience to wait for your guidance
to become experienced and manifest
I pray for courage that knowing your will, I will follow
the path you have chosen for me;
I pray for joy knowing as your love unfolds
through me, my path is one of astonishment and beauty; and
I pray for humility to experience that at the end of the day
you have done for me what I could not do for myself
and that I might abide in your peace for a good night’s rest.
Blessing for the Kingdom
As the Lord did bless the loaves and fishes
may he bless our passionate wishes
May our little fires burn bright
that his Love will warm the night
So when ‘morrow brings the sun
closer may His Kingdom come
Blessing for Artists
for Mia
May those whose creative gifts
are not seen or supported
Who work in darkness
as the world spins by them
May the closeness of their lives
to loss and desperation
Open hearts to an unexpected Love
never reflected by family or friends
So that the fires of their imaginations may
whet the longings of Love in the world
To bring a new way to see ourselves
a new way for us to understand each other
For a way in either desperation or abundance
for souls to embrace authentic creation
so blessings of Love pour from imagination’s fire
to mend together our fragile world.
Not pictured: Susan Little & Steve Cloniger.