Blessed

It is a mystery to me how as the distance between us grows, the larger this blessing becomes, as if the shape of it depends on absence, as if it finds its form not by what it can cling to but by the space that arcs between us.[1]

In recent months, I’ve developed a renewed interest in the pastoral act of blessing.  The disconnections wrought by pandemics have turned the glimpses of glory that we reflect in and to one another – often through the miracle of Zoom – into a lifeline.  I have been emboldened in offering blessings to those I encounter; and my ears have become more finely tuned to hearing them in the most unlikely of places.

As this blessing makes its way, first it will cease to measure itself by time.  Then it will release how attached it has become to this place where we have lived, where we have learned to know one another in proximity and presence. 

As with many of you, the context and container of my own work life has shifted dramatically over the past six months.  What was once a life on the road, travelling across the country to meet face-to-face with colleagues has moved into the room above my garage, with glowing pixels and an internet connection as the source and means for connecting with others. 

Next this blessing will abandon the patterns in which it moved, the habits that helped it recognize itself, the familiar pathways it traced.

Last week, we experienced a new way of coming together to celebrate and bless one another.  Through videos and webinars, social media, t-shirts and websites, we installed a new Board Chair, remembered our colleagues who died in the last year, celebrated the new Certified Educators among us, and recognized with gratitude the visionary leaders among us.  We learned from creative colleagues who are expanding the reach of CPE to hospital administrators and strengthening our practice with rigorous Systems Centered Theory.  We celebrated the generosity of our Foundation’s donors, ensuring the legacy of CPE for years to come.  Moving out beyond the patterns and traditions of our annual gatherings, my brilliant colleagues on the ACPE staff marshalled their creativity and expertise to develop new ways for us to remember and connect, to celebrate and to bless.  Over three hundred of you participated; I pray that you, too, found blessing.

Finally this blessing with touch its fingers to your brow, your eyes, your mouth; it will hold your beloved face in both its hands, and then it will let you go; it will loose you into your life; it will leave each hindering thing until all that breathes between us is blessing and all that beats between us is grace.

I am grateful for you all, and I pray that this blessing may find its way to you.  May it be so.