Ducks: A Blessing, et al.

This blessing has been published by Enfleshed for the online addendum to Held a book of blessings. The Original link is here. Two of my other Pittsburgh Seminary D. Min. Creative Writing Classmates got picked up for the online addendum and two of my classmates–Molly Housh Gordon and Walter Canter– got in the Print edition which can be ordered for 2nd printing here.

Ducks: A Blessing
by Katy Stenta

God knows, I don’t know where my ducks are
so they aren’t in a row.

How do I prioritize?
Everything is important
Schedules are nebulous, houses are messy, kids need attention.

God, you know, the ducks are waiting
Sometimes they quack at me in the middle of the night.

Is this how the prophets felt?
Chasing down the Wild Goose of the Holy Spirit.

Did they know their ducks would never
ever be in a row?

And that the wild birds of
Friendship, inspiration, food, silliness, etc
Would be the wild blessings of the Holy Spirit

.

Blessed are the ducks
Silly, quacking, never in a row
Blessed are the messy houses,
the children, the imperfections
the neverending tasks of relationships and adulting
the quacking in the middle of the night.

Blessed is the struggle
for it is real, and magnificent.

Katy Stenta is the mother of three, pastor, dreamer, fantasy/sci-fi romance reader and sunshine catcher, and wife of youth librarian Anthony. She enjoys writing blessings and prayers.

Who Am I by my classmate Joanne Spence

I am heavy
I am light

I am full
I am empty

I am shadow
I am bright

I am the me who sees and hears.

Oh, to the songbird
All the sights and sounds

Fluttering gently in my subconscious mind

I. Am. Here. Now.

God is closer than my breath.
That’s the me I see

Here. Now. Sensing Her presence

The Divine Feminine in me.

By Joanne Spence

Joanne Spence is the author of “Trauma-Informed Yoga: A Toolbox for Therapists.” She is a yoga teacher, social worker, and spiritual director. She likes to hike, bike, read, cook, dance, and travel, just not all at the same time

A blessing for wanting to belong by my classmate Jordan Miller-Stubbendick

Alone in the cafeteria, I grip my lunch tray,
slightly damp from its turn in the industrial dishwasher.
I seek a friendly face under the harsh fluorescent glare.

One Who Sees, you notice me standing there,
swirling with the fear that I am
not cool enough funny enough sparkly enough.

Friend Of My Heart, you are with me in that cafeteria
As I look around, taking shallow breaths.
Steady One, you catch my eye and smile, beckoning me over
There is a seat for me at your table—and for all of us
Who ever feel not cool enough funny enough sparkly enough.

Divine Embrace, you sweep all of me up
into your ever growing rainbow embrace
into your warm blanket of peace, of rest.

You say: Come. Sit with me.
Set down your fears and frantic striving.
I see you just as you are, and I love you always.
Yes, you are so much more than enough.
You belong, and there is a place for you here.

Jordan Miller-Stubbendick is a writer who lives in Buffalo, NY with her family.