© Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com

Kindred in Christ,

It has been a heavy week. If you are like me and others I have been checking in with, you are likely still feeling the grief of the results of the election.  Yet while this has been a bad week, I hope you also know that it is not the final week. And that God’s story is not over, and I am thankful that you are part of that story with us. We are glad you are here!

I was reminded this week that the kind of community we are and strive to be—LGBTQIA+ inclusive, multi-ethnic, antiracist, seeking justice in the way of Jesus—is needed now more than ever. So, I hope you are finding supportive community in the days to come. Please reach out to me if you would like to process and pray with someone.

And I would like to share with you a prayer by Jan Richardson that I have meditated on these last few days. I offer it to you now, and any time you feel as if the world you knew is coming to an end.

Blessing When the World Is Ending

Look, the world
is always ending
somewhere.

Somewhere
the sun has come
crashing down.

Somewhere
it has gone
completely dark.

Somewhere
it has ended
with the gun,
the knife,
the fist.

Somewhere
it has ended
with the slammed door,
the shattered hope.

Somewhere
it has ended
with the utter quiet
that follows the news
from the phone,
the television,
the hospital room.

Somewhere
it has ended
with a tenderness
that will break
your heart.

But, listen,
this blessing means
to be anything
but morose.
It has not come
to cause despair.

It is simply here
because there is nothing
a blessing
is better suited for
than an ending,
nothing that cries out more
for a blessing
than when a world
is falling apart.

This blessing
will not fix you,
will not mend you,
will not give you
false comfort;
it will not talk to you
about one door opening
when another one closes.

It will simply
sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light
will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins
again.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz