“Simeon took him in his arms and blessed Him.”  Luke 2:28

“According to the power of God’s Spirit may you be strengthened in your inner being and . . . be rooted and grounded in love.”  Ephesians 3:16-17

Happy New Year!  A Blessed New Year!  Which do you prefer?

While New Year’s resolutions may be in vogue, albeit with modifications, I believe a blessing might be more in order.  After all, that is what Simeon does on the 8^th day following the birth of Jesus.  It was this blessing that prepared Simeon to “depart in peace” from this earthly life.  And it is a blessing that will allow us to do the same. 

Because we just don’t know, do we?  We just don’t know if this year will be our last this side of eternity.  The older one gets the more one recognizes the reality of this fact.  But departing from this side of eternity is not a matter of age.  Just yesterday I was sitting with someone my own age who suddenly said “I am dying.”  She has had a rough life with many health issues.  I believe she’s right.  “I’m dying too,” I responded.  “But mine is more immanent.” She said. 

Dying people don’t need resolutions, we need blessings.  And that is why I decided to address this topic in today’s meditation.  I will return to O’Donahue and Anam Cara—promise.  But today this topic seems more timely. 

What blessing do you need for this year?  If you were to write a blessing for another person, what would it be?  I want to share with you two blessings which have spoken powerfully to me in recent weeks and years.  The first is from St. Paul and his letter to the first followers of Christ in Ephesus.  I have meditating on this verse, reading and re-reading it, for the past couple of weeks.

 ^“According to the riches of God’s  glory may you be strengthened with power through God’s Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”[1]

What is it that speaks to you in these verses?  For me it is the following:

1. The work of the Spirit—the same Spirit who led Simeon and Anna to the temple, and Jesus into the wilderness, and who came upon Mary.  This is The Spirit that fills us with God’s power.  And note where – – –
2. In the Inner Being.  Resolutions are about outward actions and appearances, as is most of what is valued in our culture and religion.  But the power of God which works true transformation does so in our inner being.  This is how we become rooted and grounded in Christ’s love, so that not even the fact of our death will deter or disturb us.
3. It is the Love of Christ that provides that grounding.  It is the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.  It is the love of Christ that gives our lives meaning.  It is the love of Christ that grounds us in the face of whatever we will experience this year.  It is the love of Christ that fills us with the fullness of God. With the love of Christ, we lack nothing.  And nothing that happens to us, be it “good” or “bad” can cause us to be moved or shaken.

And here is the other blessing that I find comforting.  This will come as no surprise, but it is from O’Donahue and is entitled “Beanacht.” 

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets into you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green
and azure blue,
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

A Special Invitation:  This Wednesday I will begin hosting a weekly gathering for the purpose of transformation.  It will meet online from 6:30-7:30, and will consist of scripture reading/meditation, prayer, and a discussion of the book “Invitation to Love” by Thomas Keating.  If you would like to join please go to the Allenspark Community Church website  found here:  https://allensparkcommunitychurch.org/upcoming

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[1] Ephesians 3:14-19