Piloting Faith: A blessing for the broken-hearted...
A Word for the Day...
I am aware that grief is heavy for many of us these days. We are carrying brokenness that comes from losing ones we love, losing jobs we need, losing balance in ourselves, losing connection with our children, losing intimacy with our partners, losing lifelong friendships, losing our sense of purpose, losing hope in our future.
I keep thinking of CS Lewis' words in A Grief Observed – “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”
For those of you swimming in a season of grief, I offer this poem by Jan Richardson as a companion through the season. Her words have helped me.
Blessing for the Brokenhearted by Jan Richardson
There is no remedy for love but to love more.
—Henry David Thoreau
Let us agree
for now
that we will not say
the breaking
makes us stronger
or that it is better
to have this pain
than to have done
without this love.
Let us promise
we will not
tell ourselves
time will heal
the wound,
when every day
our waking
opens it anew.
Perhaps for now
it can be enough
to simply marvel
at the mystery
of how a heart
so broken
can go on beating,
as if it were made
for precisely this—
as if it knows
the only cure for love
is more of it,
as if it sees
the heart’s sole remedy
for breaking
is to love still,
as if it trusts
that its own
persistent pulse
is the rhythm
of a blessing
we cannot
begin to fathom
but will save us
nonetheless.
© Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com
Keep the faith, wise warriors. You are not alone.
- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight
Blessing for the Week
May the God who holds us close
and the God who hopes for our wholeness
who weaves us together as beloved community
and challenges us to become more
bless you now
and always.
