In talking with a friend who is finding his way through the ending of a relationship I wrote these words to help ease his transition:
Know that you are held in my love as you transition, as you honor you, as you leap into the love that the Universe has waiting for you now in different forms, and in the future as that love takes the form of another human…
His response: “That’s like a prayer and a blessing wrapped into one.”
And it got me thinking about prayers and blessings, and the power our words have – to help heal, to share certainty when our worlds feel uncertain, and the gentle reminder we are so loved as the words and truth travel from heart to heart.
When I was in high school Pastor Paul Gauche would always end the service with the following Benediction. To this day my heart still smiles and I can hear his voice echoing in my ears when I read it:
And now as you go from this place, go knowing that you are saved by grace; you are justified, you are forgiven, you are sought out, you are beloved, you are hidden in Christ and made for the glory of God.
You are known, you are never forsaken, you are held in the palm of God’s hand, you are loved.
May God’s peace and power go with us until we gather again, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
I never tired of hearing those words. There were many times I would find refuge in them, in the certainty with which he conveyed them to the congregation. I would close my eyes and for a moment it was as though God himself was bestowing blessings upon me.
Those words spoken each week reminded me that we are known, we are loved, we are sought out, that we need to be reminded on a regular basis that we are chosen, we are so very loved.
God is such a heavy word, laden with so much that sometimes I fear using it because I have more questions than answers and so often I don’t want others to think that I have confined God into a little box. All I know is the closest I have come to God is a swelling from within my soul of love, a deep sense of gratitude for all that I have been given. I know that in the darkest moments I have been held, that something has threaded my life together to create a beautiful tapestry from bits and scraps that have woven into something beautiful, and sometimes I choose to call it God.
All I know is that there is a homing device of sorts within me, a still, small voice, a sixth sense, a deep knowing, intuition perhaps, angelic guidance, acestoral assistance, perhaps all of those things, perhaps none of them… and for me it is not so much about naming it as living in the intimacy and ecstacy of being near to such lightness of being, to the vibrating core of light and love that I can see but can’t quite seem to explain that guides me, that surrounds me, that heals me. This healing, this love, this pure goodness, this light, this energy, this something… brings me peace, leaves me feeling bathed in love and overflowing with gratitude.
For someone who loves to put words to experiences, who strives to name things, who wants to share intimate experiences of the soul with others to deepen relationships it is hard to not know what words to use. The words that we have are so small, so shallow, so insignificant when faced with the reality of a love that large, that deep, that powerful, that full, that radiant… and I am torn between trying and failing and just sitting in it not trying to explain it just sharing it without words… and I suppose that is my happy medium… to do both… to do my best to try to explain and when words fail to radiate love from the very depth of my being.
Erica Staab 