A Jewish Blessing

 

In every birth, blessed is the wonder.

In every creation, blessed is the new beginning.

In every child, blessed is life.

In every hope, blessed is the potential.

In every transition, blessed is the beginning.

In every existence, blessed are the possibilities.

In every love, blessed are the tears.

In every life, blessed is the love.

There are three names by which a person is called:

One which her father and mother call her,

And one which people call her,

And one which she earns for herself.

The best one of these is the one that she earns or herself.

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Iona Community Prayer

 

Deep peace of the running wave to you,

Deep peace of the flowing air to you,

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,

Deep peace of the shining stars to you,

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

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I Want You To Be Happy 

Author Unknown  (Can be read by parents, family or anyone.)

 

I want you to be happy. I want you to fill your heart with feelings of wonder and to be full of courage and hope.

 

I want you to have the type of friendship that is a treasure - and the kind of love that is beautiful forever. I wish you contentment: the sweet, quiet, inner kind that comes around and never goes away.

 

I want you to have hopes and have them all come true. I want you to have a real understanding of how unique and rare you truly are. I want to remind you that the sun may disappear for a while, but it never forgets to shine. May the words you listen to, say the things you need to hear. And may a cheerful face lovingly look back at you when you happen to glance in your mirror.

 

I wish you the insight to see your inner and outer beauty. I wish you sweet dreams. I want you to have times when you feel like singing and dancing and laughing out loud. I want you to be able to make your good times better and your hard times easier to handle. I wish I could find a way to tell you - in untold ways - how important you are to me.

 

Of all the things I’ll be wishing for, wherever you are and whatever I may do, there will never be a day in my life when I won’t be wishing for the best… for you.

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God speaks to each of us as he makes us,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,

go to the limits of your longing.

Embody me.

Flare up like a flame

and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.

Just keep going. No feeling is final.

Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.

You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

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 - Book of Hours, I 59, Rainer Maria Rilke

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Kissed an Angel, an Adoption Poem

Author Unknown  

 

Today I kissed an angel

I knew it from the start

The first time my angel smiled at me

I gave away my heart

Today I kissed an angel

This angel child of mine

Though not of my creation

My child by God’s design

Today I kissed an angel

My heart is dancing wild

A family, by a miracle

Blessed by this angel child.

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WONDER, By Thomas Traherne

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How like an angel came I down! 

How bright are all things here! 

When first among his works I did appear 

O how their glory me did crown! 

The world resembled his eternity, 

In which my soul did walk; 

And ev’ry thing that I did see 

Did with me talk. 

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When you were born you cried,

And the world rejoiced,

Live your life so that when you die

The world crises and you rejoice.

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 - Navajo chant

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The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting

by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

When we become parents, whether intentionally or by happenstance, our whole life is 

immediately different, although it may take some time to realize just how much. Being a parent compounds stress by orders of magnitude. It makes us vulnerable in ways we weren’t before. It calls us to be responsible in ways we weren’t before. It challenges us as never before, and takes out time and attention away from other things, including ourselves, as never before. It creates chaos and disorder, feelings of inadequacy, occasions for arguments, struggles, irritation, noise, seemingly never-ending obligations and errands, and plenty of opportunities for getting stuck, angry, resentful, hurt, and for feeling overwhelmed, old, and unimportant. 

 

And this can go on not only when the children are little, but even when they are full grown and on their own. Having children is asking for trouble.

"So why do it? Maybe Pete Seeger said it best: ‘We do it for the high wages…kisses.’ Children give us the opportunity to share in the vibrancy of life in ways we would not touch were they not part of our lives… they share …vital nature with us and call it out of us as well, if we can listen carefully to the calling.