Thought for the week: Blessing for the broken hearted by Jan Richardson

As I prepare for cancer surgery in 3 days, I also know that I prefer to be the one struggling with cancer than having someone else struggle.  I know that I will be changed but that’s ok too.  I remind myself that I am already a survivor and I have no doubt the presence of God and so many of you will be with me in the weeks ahead.  However, dealing with cancer can be disruptive, and I find myself dealing with a range of emotions.  Honestly, it’s a bit more scary this time around than it was when I was 45.  I have a greater sense of my own vulnerability and am trying to be aware and grateful each and every day.

And….I also believe that we are all survivors of some experience or situation as we walk this human journey together.  

Yet, all of this is nothing compared to the families who lost loved ones in Uvalde or Buffalo, or hundreds of other places due to gun violence in our country.  It is nothing compared to those losing homes and loved ones in Ukraine or other war torn areas. It is nothing compared to the children who suffer from hunger in Nicaragua and other countries.

No, I’m not a martyr and no, I’m not in denial. I tend to fluctuate between realism and being a dreamer and so today, I share this blessing with you.  It is for all the broken hearted of our world.

Thank you for the ways you are blessing to others, to our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua, to our global family in Mission of Hope, to your own families and friends, and to me.

May this blessing bring healing to you and all you love.

Let us agree

for now
that we will not say
the breaking
makes us stronger
or that it is better
to have this pain
than to have done
without this love.

Let us promise
we will not
tell ourselves
time will heal
the wound,
when every day
our waking
opens it anew.

Perhaps for now
it can be enough
to simply marvel
at the mystery
of how a heart
so broken
can go on beating,
as if it were made
for precisely this—

as if it knows
the only cure for love
is more of it,

as if it sees
the heart’s sole remedy
for breaking
is to love still,

as if it trusts
that its own
persistent pulse
is the rhythm
of a blessing
we cannot
begin to fathom
but will save us
nonetheless.

—Jan Richardson
From The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief

Thank you for being blessing to me…and stay “tuned in” to how HOPE unfolds in your life daily.

Sr. Debbie Blow, OP