A Word of Blessing | Part 2 of 3

As I mentioned last week, I’m using these final Weekly Words to write and share a series of three blessings—just a small way to say thank you, and to mark this season of transition. If you missed the first one, you can read it here: Blessing One: For the Journey That’s Still Becoming.

“To bless is to invoke divine favor,” John O’Donohue writes. That’s a line that stays with me.

But not in some generic, far-off way. To bless is to invite the things of heaven to meet the stuff of earth—to call the eternal into the particular, to summon God’s goodness into the very real grief, gratitude, laughter, and longing we carry.

That’s what I want to do again this week.

From my perspective, we’ve shared something real—as in, true and genuine. Not just Sunday mornings or church programs, but a life together. A love. A belonging from our shared story.

So today, I’ve written this second of three blessings, and offer it to you—

Blessing Two: For the Love That Holds Us

When you’ve shared life with people—

not just moments, but meals and memories,

not just Sundays, but stories—

something sacred takes shape.

A kind of belonging is born.

One that doesn’t depend on always being together,

but on having been changed by the togetherness.

And when it’s time to let go,

when the leaving feels too soon,

when words don’t quite carry the weight of what’s been shared—

may you pause and remember:

not everything ends just because it changes.

Love doesn’t disappear.

It lingers.

Echoes.

Holds.

So may the love that shaped us here

continue to form you—

in celebration and in quiet,

in memory and in hope.

May you carry one another’s stories with tenderness,

and keep finding one another

in the bread we’ve broken,

the kindness we’ve shared,

and the prayers that have held us.

May what we’ve shared deepen our roots,

open our hearts,

and remind us that not one of us is ever alone.

We are being drawn into divine affection,

continually embraced by God’s grace,

and held—again and again—

by the Spirit of God,

and the grace we give each other.

Much love,

Pastor Gregg