A Poem to Guide Your Prayers – “A Blessing for Traveling in the Dark” by Jan Richardson

We continue to live in hard scary times. It’s tempting to try and rush through them, wildly pushing our way to the other side. But that will not get us anywhere; it will only result in more people getting pushed. Instead of lashing out in denial or anger, we can be at peace even during this time of dark shadow. Peace because God loves us, knows us, and is with us, even in the cloud.

“A Blessing for Traveling in the Dark” by Jan Richardson

Go slow
if you can.
Slower.
More slowly still.
Friendly dark or fearsome,
this is no place to break your neck
by rushing,
by running,
by crashing into what you cannot see.

Then again, it is true:
different darks
have different tasks,
and if you have arrived here unawares,
if you have come
in peril
or in pain,
this might be no place you should dawdle.

I do not know
what these shadows ask of you,
what they might hold
that means you good
or ill.
It is not for me to reckon
whether you should linger
or you should leave.

But this is what I can ask for you:

That in the darkness there be a blessing.
That in the shadows there be a welcome.
That in the night you be encompassed
by the Love that knows your name.