Dedicated to Jan Richardson, in gratitude for her book The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief
save this blessing for when you most need it.
for loneliness.
for fear.
save this blessing for
exhaustion.
for anxiety.
for crisis.
save this blessing
for when you feel torn between worlds
between longings
for when you’re caught in the crossfire
and when you feel you cannot breathe.
save this blessing
for when the world you are birthing
with your bare hands
is not coming fast enough.
most importantly:
save this blessing for when you think the last thing you deserve
is a blessing.
for when the right words are not coming.
for when you want to quit.
and when the work
feels like it’s never enough
and that it will not save you.
save it because
this blessing
refuses to believe
the worst things you say about yourself
the worst things anyone has ever said to you.
and refuses to let either have the final word.
this blessing
will not try to fix you.
or silence you.
or make you into something
you are not.
it will not whisper false hope
or have the answers.
but it will breathe by your side.
here is what this blessing knows:
that you are needed
that your people need you.
and that if you haven’t found your people
yet
or lose them
they can always be
regrown
in other words,
let this blessing be a safe house.
let it be a dream
let it be laughs that slip through the cracks.
let it be dancing.
let it be another start.
let it be the tap on your shoulder
helping you remember you do
not have to do
anything
alone.
Margaret Ernst
is a program manager with Faith Matters Network, which catalyzes personal and social change by equipping community organizers, faith leaders, and activists with resources for connection, spiritual sustainability, and accompaniment. Margaret holds a special commitment to equipping fellow white people to take action against racism, and contributes to The Word Is Resistance, a podcast project of Showing Up for Racial Justice focused on what “Word” is for white people resisting racism from weekly lectionary texts. We are grateful to Rev. Ernst for allowing us to republish this blessing.
