Blessings for the New Year

One of my co-workers spent all day New Year's eve making noodles and dumplings, which is apparently a traditional New Year's meal in Korean culture. The other one spent the day dealing with a sick baby and projectile vomiting. I won't write more about that as it's not an inspirational story. Back to my other co-worker. On the first day of every year of her life, she has kneeled before her parents to show them respect and in return, they give her a blessing.

There's not enough of that sort of thing in the world. I think we all need people to speak words of blessing over our journeys, words that are not contingent on how well we walked the year before. I think we just need to know that someone sees us, that God knows that we are still here in this world, and no matter if we've made a mess of things this far, someone wants goodness for our future.

Without those reminders, I tend to get discouraged. I've had this voice in my head this week, telling me that I'm up against a timetable and I'd better get it together soon, even if I'm still figuring out what the "it" is, and I don't know what "together" is supposed to look like. I spent Sunday evening with some friends, and inspired by Jen's Mondo Beyondo list, sat around over pizza and talked about what we wanted for ourselves and each other both in 2005 and life in general. I won't share my list, except to say that there's a book I want to write someday, but it's good to have others see things in me that I can't yet see in myself. I went to my women's group tonight feeling crushed and heavy, so I sat on the floor and they circled around me and prayed and took pieces of my burden, and I stood up feeling lighter, even if the road in front of me is just as long and hard as it was before.

2004 was an excruciating and hopeful journey for me. I spent much of it following the sound of distant wailing to the parts of myself that were hiding, lost and buried. Finding some parts has felt like celebration; finding others has felt like death. 2005 looks like it will be more of the same, although I hope that at least a few of the things I dreamed about on Sunday will be a little closer to true at the end of it.

If you're feel a shortage of people in your life to wish for goodness for your future, then consider this your words of blessing for a new year:

May you embrace your light and shadow.
May you feel your strength and wounds.
May you find companions for the dark parts of your journey.
May you find friends to celebrate your life.
May you feel seen by God.

Comments

[jen lemen]

i'll take that blessing.
god knows i need it.
i think it is so wonderful that you have that group of women to do that for you. we had that in miami--the kind of friends who let each other take turns falling apart and being the point for a little while until things brightened up--but we haven't found it here. that kind of thing is wonderful and rare.
many blessings to you in the new year, christy.
i hope at least one of your mondo beyondo things comes true in 2005.

[Monastic Skete]

I love that blessing. Thanks !!!

[bobbie]

thank you christy, that is a wonderful blessing. may 2005 be filled with more light than shadow for you this year!

love you!

[Christy]

Hope ya'lls 2005 is full of light too.