Authors of The Lives We Actually Lead, Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie, share a blessing for those who experienced trauma from their childhoods.
Blessed are you who come with your sorrow,
allowing your pain to convey all its truth.
For here in the arms of Jesus
is where reality is a welcome guest.
Here is where grief is understood at its core,
where the dark shadow of betrayal
is seen from the inside.
Here, my dear, is where the work
of healing begins.
Blessed are you who mourn
as you meet yourself once again as that little child
who needed protection but did not receive it,
who deserved respect but was not afforded it.
The things that should have happened but didn’t
and the things that happened but shouldn’t.
Read more liturgy
This is the blessing that we offer to women who are worried about ageing
We wrote a book of liturgy and this is our prayer for paying the bills when there’s not enough money
‘It is safe to grow old’: A prayer for letting go of your younger self
The broken family systems and
normalized cruelties
that allowed your pain to continue
far beyond what it should have.
For you have come now to the God
who is alive to your past,
your present,
and your future,
who has already moved heaven and earth
to restore your dignity,
and return you to yourself.
P.S. Take a minute to remind your past self that you are loved now, tomorrow, and forever. And rest. You are safe. You are held. You are loved.
Excerpted from The Lives We Actually Have by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. Copyright © 2023 by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
No comments yet