By Revd. Peggy Kruse
After being at home during these past 19 months, our homes are have become more than just the dwellings that house us. They are the sacred spaces that envelope our lives. They are places of safety and security. Each home holds in all of its glory – the celebrations, the joy, the sadness, the messiness, the conflict and sometimes even the similarity – to a circus, our family life together.
An important way to find that sense of ‘being at home or coming home’ without even leaving our homes – is through prayer, mindfulness and meditation. The world can be falling down around us, but having a strong sense of who we are, a strong identity, can be acquired in learning how to just be still and to listen. Some call this inner world – our soul – and we all have the choice of developing it or ignoring it. Sadness, suffering, pain and joy are all part of the human lot. The spiritual, or soulful, path provides no escape from life’s problems but it does offer us a way of integrating life’s contradictions into a more positive and complete perspective. Find your sacred space – whether outside or inside of yourself – and keep returning to it – time and time again.
We know that at times – homes are not always safe and secure places for many of our students. We pray for the homes that are not happy, where conflict rather than peace is at the centre.
May God bless these homes – and bring a calmness and a sense of hope to each member of the family who resides there.
These words below are adapted from one of my favourite spiritual writers, John O’Donohue.
May our houses shelter our lives.
When we come home,
May all the weight of the world
Fall from our shoulders.
May our hearts be tranquil there,
Blessed by peace the world cannot give.
May nothing destructive
Ever cross its threshold.
May this be a safe place
Full of understanding and acceptance,
Where we can be as we are,
Without the need of any mask – (literally)
Of pretense or image.
May it be a house of courage,
Where healing and growth are loved,
Where dignity and forgiveness prevail;
A home where patience of spirit is prized,
And the sight of the destination is never lost
Though the journey be difficult and slow.
May there be great delight around this hearth.
Amen.
Adapted from John O’Donohue’, Beannacht/Blessing