angel’s wings – Carrie's Bench

Inspired by Matthew 4:1–11:
“And suddenly angels came and waited on him.”

WILDERNESS BLESSING

Let us say
this blessing began
whole and complete
upon the page.
And then let us say
one word loosed itself
and another followed it
in turn.

Let us say
this blessing started
to shed all
it did not need,
that line by line
it returned
to the ground
from which it came.

Let us say
this blessing is not
leaving you,
is not abandoning you
to the wild
that lies ahead,
but that it is loathe
to load you down
on this road where
you will need
to travel light.

Let us say
perhaps this blessing
became the path
beneath your feet,
the desert
that stretched before you,
the clear sight
that finally came.

Let us say
that when this blessing
at last came to its end,
all it left behind
was bread,
wine,
a fleeting flash
of wing.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

Image: “Where Angels Love to Tread“

Something wonderful is coming this way. Each year at this time, when the ancient calendar turns, and the crisp wind blows, I feel the satin-winged angels flying through the star sprinkled night, to herald the advent of a new beginning. That is what I claim for our lives: that new beginning, that sacred start to a life renewed. Something wonderful is coming to you, to me, to all the world. No hurt or harm can hold back the healing: they must give way, yield to the power of mercy, and let the angelic chorus fill the sky with songs of hope, singing for you, singing for me, singing for the sheer joy of singing. Something wonderful is coming this way. (Bishop Steven Charleston – 2014)