Blessings Archive - Kate Bowler

Complicated Grief and Complicated Love with

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Blessings

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A Blessing for When You Suffer Alone

I see you there, suffering alone,with the illness or pain that lingersthough friends do not,—or cannot. You, in isolation,locked in, or locked out. You, the caregiversstruggling in the certaintythat there is not enoughstrength, time or resources. You who counsel others in their trauma,but suffer deeply from your own. You who are grieving losses, too many […]

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a blessing for friends who hold us up

God, you called me to lovebut people are inherently risky.Telling my story, being known, asking for help,complaining again aboutthe thing I worry might sound cliché by now. Shouldn’t I be over it already? But something is happening when I am known.I am becoming stronger somehow. I am reminded of the pillars I’ve seenholding up cathedrals.Flying […]

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A blessing for being human

Blessed are we, living in this small space, in these bodies we now inhabit, within the walls of circumstance, in these short years and finite strength, and with these eyes that see only so far. We are fragile, contingent beings. Yet blessed are we, recognizing that it is our limits as well as our gifts […]

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A Blessing for Christmas Day

God, this is a kind of magicthe way this day shines so strangely,how it sparkles beyond our understanding. (Yes, it was a disasterthe way the food turned out this yearand how what’s-her-face said (I told her not to)What shouldn’t be repeated.Again this year.) But, somehow, this daynever fails to awaken a longingto love well—or at […]

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A Blessing for an Unfinishable Day

God, it seems that stopping is impossible. Dishes need to be washed.Kids need to be fed.Aging parents need to be cared for.Deadlines need to be met.Medicines need to be administered.Diapers always need to be changed.(They multiply if I sleep, after all.) Can you ease the burden of perfection? Free me from this fantasyof the better […]

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A blessing for around the table

God, awaken us to the everyday miracle of a simple meal.Whether it is take-out that took a phone call,a recipe that took an entire afternoon,or the cereal-for-dinner again feeling this meal creates,bless it all. So blessed are we, sharing a meal today.May we recognize God’s goodnessin the thoughtful preparation,in the delivering,in the eating together,savoring something […]

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A blessing for everyday empathy (because, hey, SENSITIVITY ISN’T A BAD THING)

Blessed are you, the sensitive one, attuned to the feelings of others.You couldn’t turn it off if you tried. Blessed are you with the emotional bandwidth to hear hard things,without fixing or minimizing or deflecting,You know the gift of presence. Blessed are you who chooses to show up without judgmentwith little gifts or small acts […]

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