Changes

Many times, over the thirteen years we have lived in our townhouse, I have photographed the afternoon or early evening sky from the same vantage point. I have photographed the place in all seasons, and have seen pallets of different colors painted across the sky here. I am reminded that things are always changing. Some of the changes are welcome, others are inconvenient, and still others are downright intrusive, or even devastating. Some are turning points which we will always remember clearly and precisely. Others we will understand only later.

I wrote this blessing when I arrived home one day last week. A family member (I work now as a hospice chaplain) told me that some years before when the patient’s wife died, she stopped singing for a year and a half. She said, “My aunt didn’t even hum a tune like one does mindlessly around the house. It was like there was no music left in her heart.” So this blessing is for her, and for all of us, as we walk through the changes that life brings.

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For the chosen changes in our lives,
The new job,
The heart flutter with a new partner,
The relief of finding a new friend,
A well-earned retirement,
May all these enrich and strengthen us.
May all these gladden and refresh us.
May we claim and celebrate the, knowing them as gifts from God.

For the changes that slide into our days, just beyond our notice, and happily, take up residency with us,
The increasing warmth of the spring sun,
The longtime, quiet intimacy of one who knows us well,
The house that feels more and more like home as the days and years go along,
May all these things come into focus so that we may truly see them.
May these gifts not go unnoticed, unappreciated, and unsung.
May we claim and celebrate them, knowing them as gifts from God.

For the changes that come unbidden, maybe even unwelcome initially,
The process of aging—wisdom gained but other things lost,
The new colleague at work who doesn’t yet know the way of things,
The empty nest,
May we ask our own hearts to be open, ready to receive, prepared to prosper.
May we come to a time when we can claim and celebrate them, finding that these too are gifts from God.

For the changes that come into our lives by terrifying storm or by slow erosion, the changes that take the song from our hearts and leave us without so much as a tune to hum to ourselves,
The sudden death of one we love,
The illness that robs us of who we thought ourselves to be,
The slow drop-by-drop devastation of memory loss—our own or another’s
The horror of pollical events that suddenly are not far away or separate from us.
May we allow love and grace to bridge these gaps in us and around us.
May we, by prayer, with the help of those we love and who love us well, find peace amidst such storms.
May we remember that even when we cannot even hum a tune to ourselves, in time we will sing again. And in the meantime, there are others who raise their voices on our behalf. They will teach us to sing again.
And through all the changes may be always know that God is present, helping us through whatever the world throws at us. This gift is God’s greatest gift of all.

-Rev. Avis Hoyt-O’Connor