‘For Those Who Have Far to Travel’ (Blessing Poem)

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 recently-published Epiphany blessing-poem for those who, like the Magi, “have far to travel.”

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FAR TO TRAVEL

If you could see
the journey whole,
you might never
undertake it,
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.

Call it
one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it
only by stages
as it opens
before us,
as it comes into
our keeping,
step by
single step.

There is nothing
for it
but to go,
and by our going
take the vows
the pilgrim takes:

to be faithful to
the next step;
to rely on more
than the map;
to heed the signposts
of intuition and dream;
to follow the star
that only you
will recognize;

to keep an open eye
for the wonders that
attend the path;
to press on
beyond distractions,
beyond fatigue,
beyond what would
tempt you
from the way.

There are vows
that only you
will know:
the secret promises
for your particular path
and the new ones
you will need to make
when the road
is revealed
by turns
you could not
have foreseen.

Keep them, break them,
make them again;
each promise becomes
part of the path,
each choice creates
the road
that will take you
to the place
where at last
you will kneel

to offer the gift
most needed—
the gift that only you
can give—
before turning to go
home by
another way.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
http://paintedprayerbook.com/2018/01/05/a-far-journey-feast-of-the-epiphany-baptism-of-jesus-and-a-decade-at-the-painted-prayerbook/

Congratulations to Rev. Jan for 10 years of sharing her prolific, profound, beautiful, challenging, God-pointing writings and paintings on her blogs and in her books! To celebrate, she’s collated over a dozen of her Blessing-Poems on Epiphany themes: specifically, the Visit of the Magi and the Baptism of Christ. This collection, each with one of her paintings, is truly a gift to her readers.

See them all at
http://paintedprayerbook.com/2018/01/05/a-far-journey-feast-of-the-epiphany-baptism-of-jesus-and-a-decade-at-the-painted-prayerbook/

Read her poems, receive her blessings, ponder her paintings, worship the King of Kings. And buy her books ( have several), take her online retreats, and support her ministries.

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Image: The Wise Ones © Jan Richardson
http://paintedprayerbook.com/2016/01/02/epiphany-for-those-who-have-far-to-travel/

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