Insomnia Blessing
Alicia Reese
October 4, 2022
A couple of weeks ago I preached a sermon about grief. It always amazes me how the Holy Spirit can be at work in a sermon. More often than not, I stand in front of our congregation, having prepared a sermon to share, without feeling super confident in the message I am about to give. It is difficult to know or imagine how your own thoughts, wonderings, wrestling, will land with those who are listening.
Following that sermon, I received a surprising amount of positive feedback. Grief truly is a universal emotion we all face and struggle with at some point and so the Holy Spirit moved in, among, and through folks, opening their hearts to acknowledge and give some words to their grief. For that I am grateful, for the Spirit’s guiding hand and for all those who were led to practice vulnerability.
In honor of your grief, our collective grief, and the ways in which we are connected by our grief, I share this blessing with you from Jan Richardson…
“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.
Amen.
If you are looking for a place to connect in at First United, there is a wonderful way to do so on Thursday mornings! FCS (Fostering Connect & Support) is an informal fellowship group that meets on Zoom from 10-11 am. Anyone and everyone is invited! You are welcome to join for the whole hour or just pop in for part of it, whatever your schedule allows. We look forward to connecting with you!
