The Blessing of Light

In ancient Irish tradition, the mother of the house would tend the fire to keep it burning.  It was her job to make sure it never went out.  As she stirred it to a glow each morning, she offered a blessing similar to this one.   

May the blessing of Light be upon you,

Light without and Light within.

May it illuminate your way

and warm your heart

til it glows like a great fire

so that strangers come to warm themselves,

as well as friends.

May this Light shine from your eyes,

like a candle set in the window of a home,

bidding the wanderer to come in out of the storm.

As grief closes in on us we sometimes forget that we have something to offer others.   We feel so needy ourselves that we can overlook the possibility that grief itself can open us to another level of acceptance and compassion toward others.  In that way, grief frees us to be (as Ettie Hillesum says) “kind to one another with all the goodness that is in us.”