Crying Out for a Blessing

 An Adaptation of Verse and Voice (for Jan. 18, 2017) from Sojourners

verse of the day

[God] will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their prayer.
- Psalm 102:17

voice of the day

... 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.

- Jan Richardson (from the poem Blessing When the World is Ending)

prayer of the day

God, hear our prayers, even when our faith is so strained that we can't bear to move our lips to call your name. Provide us solace. Display your grace.