Hello friends and welcome to the reading of a blessing by Jan Richardson.
And also an invitation to remember that you are loved.
So as we begin we are going to settle into a still space.
And let ourselves be held and seen.
So I invite you to close or lower your eyes.
And gently bring your attention to your breathing.
Following the rhythm of the inhale and the exhale.
Maybe taking a few deeper,
Wider breaths.
And on your longer exhale letting the shoulders sink.
And allowing yourself to become heavy.
To sink into the chair.
And to know yourself supported and held.
Know that in this place you are held in the love of God.
Always present,
Always seeing you through eyes of compassion,
Kindness and complete acceptance.
Spend a few moments simply letting yourself be loved.
Letting yourself be seen.
Letting yourself be held.
And enveloped in tender kindness.
And from this place of stillness and rest I'm going to read this blessing about love.
And it's called Blessing That Does Not End.
From the moment it first laid eyes on you,
This blessing loved you.
This blessing knew you from the start.
It cannot explain how.
It just knows that the first time it sat down beside you.
It entered into a conversation that had already been going on forever.
Believe this conversation has not stopped.
Believe this love still lives.
The love that crossed an impossible distance to reach you,
To find you.
To take your face into its hands and bless you.
Believe this does not end.
That the gesture once enacted endures.
Believe this love goes on.
That it still takes your face into its hands.
That it presses its forehead to yours as it speaks to you in undying words.
That it has never ceased to gather your heart into its heart.
Believe this blessing abides.
Believe it goes with you always.
Believe it knows you still.
I'm going to read this one more time.
Giving you the opportunity to welcome the words,
To minister the love and the reassurance that you need.
To bring you what your heart is desiring.
And what your body,
Soul and spirit is needing in this moment.
Continue to allow yourself to be held and cocooned in the sweet,
Tender love of God.
As these words come to you again.
From the moment it first laid eyes on you,
This blessing loved you.
This blessing knew you from the start.
It cannot explain how.
It just knows that the first time it sat down beside you.
It entered into a conversation that had already been going on forever.
Believe this conversation has not stopped.
Believe this love still lives.
The love that crossed an impossible distance to reach you.
To take your face into its hands and bless you.
Believe this does not end.
That the gesture once enacted endures.
Believe this love goes on.
That it still takes your face into its hands.
That it presses its forehead to yours as it speaks to you in undying words.
That it has never ceased to gather your heart into its heart.
Believe this blessing abides.
Believe it goes with you always.
Believe it knows you still.
Please do rest a while in this space of being loved and held.
In the memory of these words.
And if you feel you want to,
Return to them and let them continue to speak and to minister what you need.
I pray that you will continue to grow into knowing how deeply,
Extravagantly and intimately that you are loved.
That you are seen and known and held in a tender embrace.
As the beloved and by the beloved.
Blessings to you my friends.
Amen.
.
