The 100th Blessing

Source of all blessings, you bless us with footfalls.

Br. David’s book, 99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life, offers a series of blessings to guide readers through each day with wisdom and spirit.  The blessings cover quite a gamut of experience, from colors to constellations, from friendship to fresh linen.

Br. David pointed out that he considers the second half of each blessing important: “May we …” When we stop to notice something and be grateful for it, the next step is a chance to go do something.  Receiving blessings in a continuous flow is much like the phrase we tell children when they are learning to cross the street safely:  Stop.  Look.  Go.

In 2013, we asked our community, “How would you complete this phrase? Source of all blessings, you bless us with the blessing of …”

Please enjoy the 12 blessings that were chosen out of many beautiful submissions.

From the steady rhythm of a marathon runner to the wobbly first steps of a toddler, from a stroll in the park to determined strides down a hospital hall, and everything in between. Whether on new grass, fresh snow, hard asphalt, or rough trail, the soil beneath our footfalls is solid and full of life.  May we feel grounded by these footfalls, connected to our earthly home, appreciative of the growth and understanding that come one step at a time.
~ Lisa Valentine

Source of All blessings, thank You for blessing me and putting me with others whose behaviour demands that I stretch the boundaries of my heart, to grow in the midst of discomfort and know that You are blessing me with this gift of irritation and annoyance so that I may grow in wisdom, compassion and understanding. May I remember this gift, and Your teaching so that I am always able to find You in another, no matter how many obstacles are in my path, or how much of “my own stuff” needs to be released to see Your perfect Light.
~ Virginia McCorkle 

Source of all blessings, you bless us with these hands.  Working hands, helping hands, holding hands, hands that give comfort, hands that express care, hands that become fists of anger or clench in frustration or despair.  May these hands be held open in acceptance and gratitude for the wondrous tools they are.  May we use them thoughtfully as they grow with age and the accumulated history of our life.
~ Debbie Cook  

My blessing to be grateful for is loss.  Whatever i’ve lost – people in my life, body parts through surgery, time wasted – i have gained in even greater value by finding the space that’s been freed up. That has allowed me to be consciously thankful for what is, what remains; and the freedom that comes with losing the attachment to that which was lost.
~ Vicki Alberts

Source of all blessings, you bless us with the blessing of birds, inviting us out of our preoccupations and worries with their simple songs, or by bursting forth in flocks out of fields, ponds, or city canyons, unfurling in the air like an urgent flag waving. May our hearts and minds open to receive these blessings – these ordinary invitations from the Great Mystery of life and spirit, in which we live and move and have our being. Opening, may we forget ourselves on purpose, and join in the great song.
~ Marti de Alva

Source of all blessings, you bless us with challenges:  delays, disappointments, losses and lemons we would rather resist than receive. May we grieve honestly for as long as we need, honoring our souls’ hardships. May struggle strengthen us to embrace a life more interesting than easy. May suffering soften our hearts toward others who struggle.  With a blessed limp to show for having wrestled mightily with you, may we walk on, willing to help our neighbors face their challenges and make their way to gratitude.
~ Rachel Srubas

Source of all blessings, you bless us with cut-crystal waters that rush to jewel our shores — touching sands that catch the sun like stars fallen-from-the sky. You have seduced us, O God, with this gift of the sea that beats with healing rhythm from Heart to heart.  Stir our hearts then, O God, by the abundance of this overflowing compassion that we may embrace one another with wave after wave of healing love. Amen.
~ Anita M. Constance, SC

Source of all blessings, you bless us with death,
which gives place for new life when the old has run its course,
and frees us into you, the Source of love.
When death comes out of season,
may we fully feel our sorrow, anger, and confusion.
Yet may death’s sharp turn remind us
to act for the sake of love on earth,
to sing at the brink of existence,
and to give thanks for the unfathomable gift of being.
~ Michael Lipson

Source of all blessings, you bless us with an abundance of opportunities to care for others in many ways, offering support and companionship, helping with the chores of daily life, being a friend in joys and sorrows.  You also bless us with opportunities to receive such help, generously offered by family and friends, and by those from whom we don’t expect assistance.  May I graciously receive such help, knowing that doing so is a gift to the giver.  May I share the gifts with others and become a link in a living chain of give and take.
~ Edda Hackl

Source of all blessings, you bless us
with teeth and the ingenuity of dentures,
memory and companions
willing to walk in our dementia,
knees and new knees,
and the genuflection of spirit
before every new morning,
eyes and the sweet bumpiness of Braille,
the wise walking of a dog,
the halo unbent of a white cane,
hearts and kidneys and marrow and skin
and the love born in loss that donates organs
and doubles the resurrection. Amen.
~ Maren Tirabassi

Source of all Blessings, you bless us with the gift of Life
In which you are intimately present to us
May we not take this gift for granted and be ever grateful for each new day
So that when the hour comes for it to be extinguished
We can look at you and say thank you for this gift without regrets.
~ Penny Wearne

Source of all blessings, you bless us with the blessing of “hope,” a conduit of grace helping to make all things bearable as we face the unknown.  When we wrestle with the darkness, the Spirit of Hope waits to companion us. And when our foundation shakes, God’s pervasive presence permeates the essence of our being bringing hope and comfort. How wonderful it is to understand the process when we feel lost and cannot see; hope can penetrate the ledge that rocks, reminding us that we have not been abandoned.
~ Carole Lotus Whynott

Our thanks to everyone who submitted entries for this compilation, which ran February 6 through March 20, 2013.  Our cups overflowed with your healing insights.