May 24, 2024
The Blessing You Should Not Tell Me
By Jan Richardson
Do not tell me
there will be a blessing
in the breaking,
that it will ever
be a grace
to wake into this life
so altered,
this world
so without.
Do not tell me
of the blessing
that will come
in the absence.
Do not tell me
that what does not
kill me
will make me strong
or that God will not
send me more than I
can bear.
Do not tell me
this will make me
more compassionate,
more loving,
more holy.
Do not tell me
this will make me
more grateful for what
I had.
Do not tell me
I was lucky.
Do not even tell me
there will be a blessing.
Give me instead
the blessing
of breathing with me.
Give me instead
the blessing
of sitting with me
when you cannot think
of what to say.
Give me instead
the blessing
of asking about him –
how we met
or what I loved most
about the life
we have shared;
ask for a story
or tell me one
because a story is, finally,
the only place on earth
he lives now.
If you could know
what grace lives
in such a blessing,
you would never cease
to offer it.
If you could glimpse
the solace and sweetness
that abide there,
you would never wonder
if there was a blessing
you could give
that would be better
than this –
the blessing of
your own heart
opened
and beating
with mine.
From “The Cure for Sorrow, a Book of Blessings for Times of Grief.”
By Jan Richardson
Wanton Gospeler Press
Copyright Jan Richardson
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