Blessing of the Eighth Day

The Eighth Day is not about starting all over again.

After the Day of Rest, God looked out on the universe that he had made. God saw the ripples and the rhythms; the flow and the ebbing of all Creation. Here and there, God saw that there were eddys in the flow and sometimes the tide was turned aside or even back on itself.

God called the archangels and sent them to visit Creation and tell of what they witnessed.

Gabriel spoke of the music of the spheres, the birdsong; the call of the wolf and the midnight song of the nightingale; the rustle of leaves and the thunder of waterfalls; it was all good.

Raphael spoke of the growing of life; the play between the butterfly and the bee; the patterns of the flowers and grain; the colours of the coral reef and the rainbow of the myriad sealife that moved across it; it was all good.

Uriel spoke of the sunrise and sunset; of clouds racing across desert skies; of the midnight sun sparking off glaciers; of death and how new life came from death; it was all good.

Michael stood silently for a moment; frowned; opened his mouth then closed it again. His eyes went up to the higher heavens and then he sighed.

'Michael', God said, 'speak of what you saw.'

'Almighty, You are good and everything you do is good. It's just the little ones; the humans -they don't seem to know their place; they don't seem to know how to 'be' good. They wander here and there; they build homes only to destroy them; they dig up the earth only to plant something else; they love - they love wonderfully but they hate as wonderfully as they love. They don't seem to know You; they don't seem to know themselves. They seem - unsettled - unfinished somehow.'

Michael opened his eyes wide, lost for what else to say, and looked across at the other archangels.

'You made them last of all, Wondrous One,' murmured Gabriel, 'perhaps they are not quite ready?'

'I made them last of all , but I love them most,' replied God, 'and I have given them so much. Maybe they could do with some guidance; some support; maybe someone to watch over them?'

The archangels bowed in agreement. 'Maybe more than one?' suggested Uriel.

'Then,' said God, 'I am sending you, Uriel, to watch over their days and nights and show those with eyes that see, signs of my presence. Gabriel, you will speak to those with ears that hear, of my love for them. Raphael, you will teach those who are willing of the healing power of my creation and guide them on the right paths.

And Michael, Michael, you will watch over them - if you have seen their weakness then others will have too and I will not lose even one. You will guard them whilst they live and, at the end of this Day you will bring them Home to me.'

The archangels bowed deeply to their Almighty Beloved and turned in formation to take up their guardianship.

'I have a feeling,' commented Michael, 'this is going to be a really long Day.'


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Blessing of the Sixth Day - God of All

²⁴ And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. ²⁵God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

²⁹ Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Blessing of the Sixth Day
O Father; each day you worked on your patterning
The weaving of seasons; the setting apart of the sea and sky
You orchestrated the tides and the flow of the planets
You tuned the song of the spheres and the chirrup of the cricket 
You spun the gossamer of spiders and dandelion clocks
Painted spots and stripes and added hair
here and there 


O Mother; you played the matchmaker
God Mother to a myriad children; Grandmother to their mothers
You nursed them and named them, each to their own
You taught them to sing, to dance, to leap and run
To swim, to soar, to wriggle and glide
You taught them to dig deep, hold fast, grow strong
here and everywhere 


And then you imagined us; wrote us on your hand
So you wouldn't lose even one - and let us go
You hover over us; shine before us 
Burn into us and wash us
You replace our hearts, open our mouths
Place our feet in the good paths 
Hold our hands in the dark.


This is your universe
We are your people 
You are our God


Blessed be




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The Blessing of Sea and Sky - the Fifth Day

²⁰ And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

The Blessing of Sea and Sky

The blessing of two-a-penny sparrows

Far-sighted eagles, thumb sized wrens 

circumnavigating albatrosses 

overprotective mother hens and

boastful blackbirds

The blessing of leviathans

tickled trout, delirious dolphins

soles with eyes perched heavenward

barnacles with fluttering fans and 

one hundred and fifty three fish 

The blessing of the God who made them

Who delights in their patterning 

And sends them whirling through sea and air 

Who knows every feather of their wing

Every scale of their skin

And who knows us 

All the better

Blessed be

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Blessing of Shadows - the Fourth Day

¹⁴ And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Shadows


Sometimes, it seems the light is too bright to bear


Sometimes, it seems  the dark has worries of it's own 


Sometimes, it seems the stars are the only ones watching


Sometimes, it seems the world turns without you


Sometimes, the best way to face your fears 
is to sit down and eat with them.


And know that God is in the shadows


Blessed be






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The Blessing of Emmaus - the Third Day

⁹ And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.¹⁰God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed—bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. ¹²The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

The Blessing of Emmaus


Blessed be the path of the shoreline
Of thrift and cordgrass
The betwixt path of sea and sand
The path of waxing and waning



Blessed be the path of the meadow
Of wheatgrass and poppies
The tiller's path seeking a harvest
The path of the gatherer and the gleaner


Blessed be the path of the mountain
Of gentians and gorse
The goatherd's path of vision 
The path of precipice and ascent


Blessed be the path of the desert
of mallow and milkweed
The solitary's path of denial
The path of encounter and sacrifice


There are no wrong paths
only the path 
where you do not invite God
to walk beside you.


Blessed be




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Blessing of the First Day

Blessings for the Octave of Easter

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Blessing of the First Day

Loving Father,

We have suffered in the night of the tomb

We have waited in the emptiness of evening

We have rejoiced in the morning of the Resurrection

When, again, you gave us your Son

Word of God,

Speak again of your love for us

Form us in the image of the Father's desire

Let your Light tend the spark of our souls
May we never be parted from you

 Spirit of God,

 hover over the depths of the waters
Blaze out over the lengths of the earth

Go before us in our life's journey 
Each morning as the first day.


Amen


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Visual prayer at Word in the Hand - for some reason it won't embed here.