Many moons ago when I was very much familiar with certain Christian practices and unfamiliar with others, a wise man came to visit us. Dressed in a quirky style, older, the artist type – he was definitely not a regular fit where we usually Sunday-ed.

At the end of his visit he said, “I’d like to bless you.” It felt strange this turn of phrase and stranger still when he pulled out a well-thumbed book and read a blessing to us. We had an awkward pause at the end and I in all my 22 year old wisdom felt uncomfortable on his behalf, on his lack of fitting in, on his being strange.

But that moment endured and put down roots in my heart – this celebration of words we didn’t write ourselves, this celebration of words that weren’t only scriptures, this use of words to claim a sacred pause, this use of words to speak –  life, kindness, hope, love – into the life of another.

Since then I’ve become a fan of ‘the blessing’.

I recognise its shape in the cards I write.

I turn blessings over in my heart like gifts of love from one to another – examining and delighting in them from many angles.

I like a blessing sincerely delivered. It’s good, so good.

I want to bless you this year dear ones. I want to articulate hope, and life, and lovely, over you. I want to take a moment on Fridays, and bless you.

I might use my words or I might borrow a blessing I have found. But I want to bless you, and it’s okay if that’s a little quirky, a little strange, a little not what we are used to – because life is an adventure and straying from the path of your usual style might just bring you to a thicket of bluebells in the woods.

Friday One: A blessing for new endeavours.

May you have courage to try new steps, even if they are wobbly and unsure.

May you have bravery to believe that you too are capable of being more than you are today.

May you have perseverance to stand and step again after you fall for the first, the second, the twentieth time.

May you always know mercies that are new every morning, strength for each moment and the enduring hope of the words that remind us – we are never abandoned, we are always watched over, we have a future.

And, may your new endeavours bring more to your life than you could hope, ask or imagine.

Let’s not despise the day of small beginnings. Be blessed today dear one. xxx