A Blessing for Those That Are Grieivng

Sometimes

The math does not add up

There is no “blessing in disguise”

Or lesson learned

That can outweigh the tragedy.

Sometimes

All you can do

Is water the ground with tears

Where you used to dance.

Sometimes

The only prayer you can pray is

“I don’t understand.”

And then,

You can say to your soul

“I give you permission to

Throw your hands in the sky in praise

Or bloody your knees in lament.

Whatever you need.”

“I give you permission

To cradle that ache in your heart

Or grasp onto hope like a last breath.

Whatever you need."

But in the midst of the allowing

Know this….

The heartbreak that radiates fire from your soul

Is surrounded

Above and below and behind

Like a tribe circling one of its own.

Your weakened body is lifted up in the arms

Of other humans who also grieve

And arched over with wings

Of One who also suffered.

We will dig here together

Watering the soil

With our collective tears.

We will plant seeds

That we pray will grow

Into a different tomorrow.

And as we dirty our hands with the aching earth

We will look upon the faces

Of each other

And of the other

And see the face of God

In eyes a thousand colors.

With a million voices that sound as one

We will sing together as we toil…

“We are not alone. We will never be alone.”

Inspired by Kate Bowler