Shared by Ellen Weber
At a recent vocation chapel, our speaker shared this blessing as an opening reading. It was lovely and a much needed reminder.
May we continue to show up true to who we are.
May we remember that the small ordinary moments are worth blessing.
That the small things that you do every day matter.
That we each are worthy of love and no resolution will make us more worthy.
May it inspire us to continue to work together towards justice, not to earn worthiness, but because we understand that we are in this life together. That we are called by our faith to show up as neighbor with an open heart and open arms reminding those that they matter and demanding that the world see it too.
A New Year’s Blessing for realists by Nadia Bolz-Weber.
As you enter this new year, as you pack away the Christmas decorations and get out your stretchy pants,
as you face the onslaught of false promises offered you through new disciplines and elimination diets,
as you grasp for control of yourself and your life and this chaotic world –
May you remember that there is no resolution that, if kept, will make you more worthy of love.
There is no resolution that, if kept, will make life less uncertain and allow you to control your aging parents and your teenage children and the way other people act.
So this year (as every year),
May you just skip the part where you resolve to be better do better and look better this time.
Instead, may you give yourself the gift of really, really low expectations. Not out of resignation, but out of generosity.
May you expect so little of yourself that you can be super proud of the smallest of accomplishments.
May you expect so little of the people in your life that you actually notice and cherish every small, lovely thing about them.
May you expect so little of the service industry that you notice more of what you do get and less of what you don’t and then just tip really well anyhow.
May you expect to get so little out of 2024 that you can celebrate every single thing it offers you, however small.
Because you deserve joy and not disappointment.
So, I wish you a Happy as possible New Year.
Love, Nadia.