Jan Richardson is one of my favorite authors and artists.  Whatever emptiness you feel today, whatever longing you experience, may this blessing infuse you with hope for the seeds of something new.

Christy

BLESSING THAT HOLDS A NEST IN ITS BRANCHES
The emptiness
that you have been holding
for such a long season now;
that ache in your chest
that goes with you
night and day
in your sleeping,
your rising—
think of this
not as a mere hollow,
the void left from
the life that has leached out
of you.
Think of it like this:
as the space being prepared
for the seed.
Think of it
as your earth that dreams
of the branches
the seed contains.
Think of it
as your heart making ready
to welcome the nest
its branches will hold.
—Jan Richardson
The blessing is from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief.

A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones.  Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes, from prehistoric times to the present.  Cairns are and have been used as landmarks, monuments, for ceremonial purposes, to mark the location of cached items, or to mark trails or pathways.

Cairns vary in size and complexity and may be painted or decorated for increased visibility or for religious reasons.  The photo pictured here is a cairn I constructed from stones gathered from our corn field.  I placed it on the small deck outside of my office and prayer space as a reminder for reflection and prayer.

My cairn calls me to ask who are my “cairns”? Who shows me my path toward the Divine and toward becoming more authentic and real? What are the cairns or signs I have missed on my path? What cairns did I notice and traveled in a different direction because I saw them?

Take a few minutes in quiet and ponder these questions.  Journal your answers. Express gratitude to those who have been cairns for you.  If you would like to talk further about your spiritual journey – please call.

Blessings,

Christy