This is a guided tour through music and arts coming from various Christian worship traditions around the world, plus a few other things of related interest such as multicultural musics.
New Year Blessing (Jan Richardson)
Jan Richardson is a superb writer, artist, and ordained minister. I treasure her books, her blog posts, her paintings, her poems … and today i treasure her (apparently brand-new) New Year Blessing for 2016. She wrote on Facebook on New Year’s Eve:
I’m just going to set this blessing on your table so it’ll be there to accompany your black-eyed peas tomorrow. Peace to you as the year ends and begins!
THE YEAR AS A HOUSE
A Blessing
Think of the year
as a house:
door flung wide
in welcome,
threshold swept
and waiting,
a graced spaciousness
opening and offering itself
to you.
Let it be blessed
in every room.
Let it be hallowed
in every corner.
Let every nook
be a refuge
and every object
set to holy use.
Let it be here
that safety will rest.
Let it be here
that health will make its home.
Let it be here
that peace will show its face.
Let it be here
that love will find its way.
Here
let the weary come
let the aching come
let the lost come
let the sorrowing come.
Here
let them find their rest
and let them find their soothing
and let them find their place
and let them find their delight.
And may it be
in this house of a year
that the seasons will spin in beauty,
and may it be
in these turning days
that time will spiral with joy.
And may it be
that its rooms will fill
with ordinary grace
and light spill from every window
to welcome the stranger home.
— Jan Richardson ©
I’m looking forward to reading Jan’s brand-new book with many more blessings like that one! “The first in a series of books of blessings, Circle of Grace draws us into the rhythms of the sacred year with Jan’s distinctive, poetic blessings.”
http://janrichardson.com/books
One easy way to keep up with Jan’s prolific writings and art is by ‘liking’ the “Art + Faith Community” she hosts on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/artandfaith/?fref=nf
Also, you you can find Jan’s distinctive artwork, writing, and more at her blogs and websites:
