Prayers and Blessings for the Stumbling Path

May God bless our feet...

On February 6, 2010, I met with five other women at St. Placid Priory in Lacey, Washington, for a retreat called “Stumbling Toward God.” At the close of the day, we joined together in a brief worship service, each of us offering a prayer or blessing for our time together.

Here are our prayers and blessings, offered to you now for your Lenten journey.

May God bless our feet as we stumble.
May God bless our eyes
with light to see the way.
May God bless our hearts
with gratitude for the path.
May God bless our feet as we stumble.
May we bless God with our courage
to journey.
— Chrysty, Renton

Lord, thank you that as we
stumble toward you,
you meet us more than halfway.
Thank you that as much as we desire to know you, you desire to be known.
Thank you for the times of insight and clarity and for the times of confusion and doubt. You speak to us through both.
Thank you for giving us this time
to stop our business
and enter into quiet sharing.
— Sharon, Packwood

Thank you for the gifts of this day. For meeting these women on courageous journeys, which gives me the courage to feel that this experience can be a beginning, that I may find my path in spite of fear and hesitancy and move closer to connection with others and relationship with you. I pray for your patience. Amen.
— Jennie, Olympia

Today I believe you have shown me that stopping to reflect on who are you, stopping to acknowledge your presence in my life, and stopping to re-energize really allows your grace to work inside and outside of self.
— Kim, Packwood

Thank you, Spirit of Love, for this day of words, tears, and muffins.
Bless ____(*) for her humor which she has been given in exchange for a fearful childhood.
Bless _____ for loving a little boy in her class and therefore changing his life.
Bless _____ for loving her community, through thick and thin.
Bless _____ for making music, as necessary for life as bread.
Bless me in the ways only you know I need. (Like forgiveness.)
Bless Margaret for bringing us together in this peaceful, holy place, then stirring us up so that we can use our dark places to make light.
— Barbara, Olympia

(*) Barbara wrote a blessing for each woman at the retreat, drawing from all we shared in our time together. For privacy’s sake, I deleted names in the posting… then realized that when I look over her list of blessings, I can fill in each blank with the name of someone I know well—a friend, family member, or neighbor. Maybe you can do the same.