a blessing for life after a loss

Blessed are we, who feel the wound of fresh loss.
Or of a loss… no matter how fresh… that still makes our voices crack all these years later.
We who are stuck in the impossibility of it. Frozen in disbelief.
How can this be? It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Blessed are we, fumbling around for easy answers or quick truths
to try to make this go down easier.
We who are dissatisfied with the shallow theology and trite platitudes.

Blessed are we, who, instead, demand a blessing.
Because we have wrestled with God and are here.
Wounded. Broken. Changed.

Blessed are we,
who keep our relationships and friendships and jobs afloat,
and who stock the pantry…

because… what choice do we have
but to move forward with a life we didn’t choose
with a loss we thought we couldn’t live without?

One small step. One small act of hope at a time.

Adapted for a communal setting from THE LIVES WE ACTUALLY HAVE, page 86

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