Another Blessing For You
Featuring original music “A Blessing” by Scott Lennox
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It’s been said that better questions lead us naturally to better answers, and that it’s in not knowing that we open the doorway to knowing. I’m Scott Lennox and you’re listening to The Beautiful Question, a consideration of things that truly matter in a complex world.
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Regardless of whether or not you participate in a tradition of faith, it’s always possible to offer blessings to others.
Join me this week as we consider the nature of blessings and as I offer my heartfelt blessing to you, whoever you are.
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Among the many things I appreciate about my Scottish ancestry, one of the strongest and finest is the Celtic tradition of offering soulful blessings to one another. Because of their poetic nature, you might think of them as verbal embraces that touch something ineffable deep within the human spirit. They have the power to reach a place in us that cannot be expressed in the words of any known language.
To be sure, it might seem a bit odd to use words to connect with what is unspeakable. After all, the words of a blessing can’t possibly contain or hold the power of what they carry. But they serve quite well as the conveyors that set blessings into motion through patterns of resonance that travel far beyond the conscious mind or our everyday understanding.
I can’t think of a better moment for sharing them than right now. As a close friend said today when we talked by phone, “Every kindness matters.”
Given the pandemic, widespread political and social unrest, and extreme weather events that have not only brought suffering but have also displaced millions of people (to name only three things among a long list of others), the past year has been one of the most dynamically charged times most of us have ever experienced.
Many are doing well in spite of what’s been happening. In fact, some are doing extremely well. For all I know, you may be one of them. Yet, as I’ve counseled with people for the past few weeks, I’m hearing a range of reactions that span from shock and awe to anger and outrage to sadness and sorrow to mental and emotional numbness to anxiety and depression to personal resignation and shut down.
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It might sound fanciful, but you may believe me when I tell you that had I the ability to do it, I would embrace every single person who is struggling. With my arms around them, I would whisper, “Tell me everything.” Then, I would listen to whatever they had to say, even if they couldn’t put real words to it.
I’m not so naïve that I believe embracing them or listening to them would make their struggles go away. But at the very least, they would know that they are not alone. That by itself would be worthwhile.
Because I’m not capable of doing that, this week I offer you the following blessing, whoever you are, wherever you are, and in whatever condition or circumstance you find yourself.
As you take them in, may the soulful intention and the sincerity behind these words touch your life in a meaningful way. May you know that you are appreciated. May you know that you are loved and cared about. And may you know that you are far from alone.
photo: Scott Lennox
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So, from my heart to yours…
When life has pressed too hard against you
and your reserves have all but drained away
and you dare not take a single step alone,
may someone open their arms to you,
and may the warmth of their embrace
be there to catch and hold you,
and may they walk beside you
long enough for you to strengthen.
And when the brooding cloud of fear
has darkened your thoughts and dreams,
and you doubt the world and doubt yourself,
may a clear and guiding light quietly arise
from the stillness that is deep within you,
bringing with it the vision and the clarity
you need to find your way back
to the sanctuary of your own heart.
And when the gravity of the world
settles across your shoulders
like a weight so broad and heavy
that you feel you’ll collapse beneath it,
may your free and childlike spirit
breathe itself so fully awake again
that with wonder and unbridled laughter,
all that you are grows softer and lighter.
And when others counsel giving up,
inviting you to join them in the confusion
of their hopelessness and dismay,
through it all, may you hear the wisdom
of your own voice speaking calmly
and with such insight and inspiration,
such courage and strength and resolution,
that you fearlessly follow your true path.
And when, at last, peace deepens in you,
as it certainly will, may it fill you with
comfort and renewal and hope,
and may you abide there for a season,
until you become a light to others,
reaching out to them and helping them
to find the strength to get back up
and come home to themselves.
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May something in what I’ve shared with you serve to inspire you in some way. May it help you come fully home to yourself and may it help you to be more accepting and more tolerant of others, allowing each of you to be exactly as you are.
This week’s three Beautiful Questions are about just that.
One: Despite what you have experienced during the past year or the past week, what strong and positive things within you have remained unbroken and unchanged?
Two: When you stop to consciously recognize them, in what ways does it become easier to see the best in those around you?
Three: If you were going to offer a blessing to someone, who would it be and what would you write or say to them.
I look forward to hearing your answers. Write and tell me about them.
As I say each week,
My Light with Your Light
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I’m Scott Lennox, and this has been The Beautiful Question.
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The Beautiful Question is a One Light production, written, produced and engineered by Scott Lennox at HeartRock Studios in Fort Worth, Texas, as a way of paying forward to life, being fully present, becoming better engaged with things that truly matter in a complex world, and committing to a healthier future for all of us.