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May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
One of my family’s favorite blessings is this Irish blessing. I grew up with it and had it memorized at an early age. We had it on wall plaques, bookmarks, and still use it in funeral services for family. It will be in the program folder for the burial of my parents’ ashes this coming Memorial Day weekend. Yes, we do have a “wee bit o’ Irish” in our bloodline, generations past—family who landed by boat in Canada and Maine—but it is the message that has grabbed our hearts over the years: the message that no matter the distance between loved ones, or the journeys traveled in a lifetime, God is with you wherever you are.
There are many more verses to the Irish blessing that reference wishes for long life, a legacy of family, safe travels, and abundant love and joy. God’s grace—in the form of sunlight and warmth (and even rain on fields)—abounds in the beloved lines. Sometimes, phrases are even featured in favorite praise music and hymns. Although the Irish blessing itself is not an actual passage from the Bible, it reflects biblical verses: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his face upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24–26)
Church services often close with benedictions—a sending forth of God’s people into the world with strength and blessings to tackle whatever lies beyond the church doors. We lift our hands to the heavens, palms up, as the pastor bestows blessings from our Lord, anointing us with God’s grace and protection as we return to lives that may be chaotic and difficult. These blessings go with us throughout our week, as we go our separate ways—until we meet again.
At funerals, we share these words of blessing to include those loved ones who have gone to be with Jesus. They give us consolation, reminding us that we will indeed meet again someday in God’s presence and glory. These consolations walk with our tears and ongoing grief, offering hope—a hope that transcends the pain of loss, the ache of missing loved ones, and the impatience of waiting to see them again. Until the time of our great reunions with family and friends, we are promised peace, grace, and light from God.
In our daily lives, we don’t need a pastor to give us a benediction to receive one. We don’t need to sing songs of blessing to believe God’s promise of love and protection, or to lift our voices in prayer and ask for an extra measure. We don’t need to be standing in the actual warmth of the sun or the cool drops of rain to feel the peace of God that passes all understanding—and let it soak in. In our daily lives and our faith walks, we don’t need plaques or bookmarks to remind us that God’s breath on the wind, like a hand on our back, is giving us strength to persevere.
We can look around—to the people we meet, to those we love, to the nature that inspires us, and to the miracles that unfold each day (in both big and small ways). We can recite to ourselves the words of the Irish blessing: “May God hold you in the palm of His hand”—believe it, accept it, and settle into the hand of God—and find rest.
Amen.
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