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LISTEN

“There is a time to cry, and a time to laugh; a time to have sorrow, and a time to dance.”–ECCLESIASTES 3:4 (NLV)

Reflect
I’ve found that during the hardest, heaviest seasons, I need a release valve. For me, that usually involves visiting a world’s largest or world’s tiniest. Like seeing the Giant Mosquito in Komarno, Manitoba. Sometimes we see the wild, beautiful things of life to remind us that absurdity can live here too. We are not all one thing. We can experience pain and fear and loss AND joy and laughter and courage too.

Respond
What quirky or weird thing can you do today to seek out and remind yourself of what else can live here too? Might I suggest finding absurd landmarks, roaming the garden department smelling the flowers, singing Christmas carols in March (or your favorite 90’s hip hop, another great choice)?

Blessing for waking up to life again

Blessed are we, beginning to unclasp
from the crippling fear we’ve gown
far too accustomed to,
from the season of nervous vigilance,
from the boredom and frustration of
plans deferred.

Winter’s long frost is over.
New ground has appeared,
and paths too we didn’t see before.

Blessed are we needing help waking up
to the music, the movement,
and the color of living,
who need help trying on joy instead.
The wonder of the daffodil,
the power of the tiniest seed,
cracked open and sprouting new life,
reaching, at its own pace, toward light.

Blooming.
Blessed are we who long to awake.
May we find the places where
beauty and love can reach us.

We’re ready for something new.23

23 Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. “For Waking Up to Life Again” in The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. (New York: Convergent Books, 2023). 52-53.

© KateBowler.com