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dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Monthly Archives: June 2021

Blessing of the Unexpected

20 Sunday Jun 2021

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in grief, Reflections

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

blessing, contentment, grief, healing, heart, joy, wellness

This blessing
is not the one you expect.

You
who wonder 
if a time will ever come
when contentment
comes calling again.

You
who limp through most days
on legs weary 
from carrying
the heaviness of grief.

You
who look for signs
amid the trees
and birds of the air
that there is yet some life
able to flourish
and fly.

You
who struggle
with even the simplest things.

You 
who have given up on the why,
and need to know how – 
how to be,
how to move,
how to breathe,
how to live.

The heart knows its way home.
It does.
The heart – 
your heart – 
has always hungered for wholeness,
has always delighted in joy,
has always longed for love,
has always looked for the truest way.

This blessing may not be 
the one you expect.
Yet it is the one you receive – 
even as your heart aches,
and healing seems slow,
and days long.

This blessing
meets you where you are
and remains with you – 
in the silent spaces,
in the open wounds,
in the private pain,
for as long as you need.

This blessing knows
that even though it seems impossible – 
you will be well again,
you will be whole again,
in the fullness of time.

~ Mark Lloyd Richardson
June 2021

Blessing the Rooms You Inhabit

01 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

change, grief work, invitation to live, living urn, remembering

The pillows
you bought last year for the futon 
are lovely shades 
of lavender and blue
and we both loved them
yet we knew right away
they weren’t nearly big enough.

So, I bought larger ones 
in a complementary color
to slip behind them.
I hope you don’t mind.

The dining room tablecloth
of earthy browns and deep reds
we have had for years
has never been my favorite
(sorry for not telling you)
and especially now
as I seek out cheerier colors.

So, I put a bright floral tablecloth
of many colors 
on the table
and may go in search of others like it.
I hope you don’t mind.

Reddish brown pottery pieces
you picked up at local pottery sales
have been displayed on a shelf
one taller than the other
and while the designs 
carved by the artists on them 
are intriguing
the colors have never appealed to me.

So, they are now in a box
in the garage
that will eventually go 
to the thrift store.
I hope you don’t mind.

The living room
where the final weeks of your life
were spent in a hospital bed
looking out at the trees and plants
rabbits, squirrels and birds
needed a feng shui makeover
which I’ve attempted
complete with a little garden 
of green and flowering plants
in the windowed corner of the room
on what was your puzzle table.

At this table
where you stood
often gently moving to music
while working a puzzle
I have placed the living urn
gleaming white
with a Hawaiian Umbrella tree 
planted and nurtured 
in the soil with you.
I hope you don’t mind.
(In fact, I hope it pleases you.)

I’m not trying to erase anything, sweetheart,
about our lovely life together.

But I realize I can’t leave everything the same
or I will soon be mired in the past.

And I can’t change everything either
(nor do I want to)
or I might become forgetful
of all that was so beautiful 
about you and me
together.

So, I make room
in the here and now moments
of each new day
to simply be present
to that which opens up before me
like a holy invitation
to live again.

~ Mark Lloyd Richardson

June 2021
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