The Healing Journey

December 21, 2024

For many years, Jan Richardson has been writing blessings, which she says offer insights into God’s often inscrutable providence so that we can “perceive the grace that threads through our lives.” In her book, “The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief,” Richardson, who is a writer, artist and ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, shared blessings that meet us in our pain. “A blessing helps us to keep breathing—to abide this moment, and the next moment, and the one after that,” she says, which is a valuable resource on the healing journey. The following is excerpted from her book.

Insomnia Blessing

For you awake
in sorrow.
For you awake
in pain.
For you awake
in illness.
For you awake
in grief.

For you awake
in worry.
For you awake
in fear.
For you awake
in loneliness.
For you awake
in rage.

May peace
lay itself
beside you.
May rest
enfold you with
its grace.
May solace
breathe into
your being.
May sleep
come and call
your name.

That you will
close your eyes
in comfort.
That you will
spend this night
in peace.
That you will
give yourself
to dreaming.
That you will
waken into joy.
©Jan Richardson

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