Of the Well

One of Jan Richardson's poems from Circle of Grace is called Blessings of the Well.  I just noticed, as I write this, that the title is not "Blessings at the Well."  It is Blessings OF the Well.  As with all of her poems in this book, it is proceeded by a verse from the Bible: "A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.'" (John 4:7).  As you begin reading the poem, the image in your mind is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.

The whole poem is beautiful, but a few lines jumped off the page for me:

Quiet your voice

Quiet your judgment

Quiet the way

you always tell

your story

to yourself.

How is it that we tell our story to ourselves?  I think most often, it is as Richardson writes.  It is a story that is reeking with judgment, like a closed room full of ripe ramps, or an elevator you travel with a smoker.  It becomes hard for us to separate the judgment from the story itself. 

For Richardson, these poems are blessings.  The defines blessing in the Introduction:  "An ancient literary form, a blessing is a distinctive constellation of words designed to call upon and convey God's deepest desire for our wholeness and well-being, both individually and in community."  This particular blessing calls upon us to release ourselves from the judgment we feel about ourselves; to "quiet the way" we tell our story to ourselves. 

God wants to give you wholeness, and perhaps what is stopping this gift is our own judgment of ourselves.

So, perhaps this blessing calls upon us to first, recognize how we judge ourselves, and secondly, to quiet that part of ourselves so that God can enter in.

 

Book Review: Circle of Grace

 Information about the book

Jan Richardson. Circle of Grace.  Wanton Gospeller Press, Orlando, Florida, 2015.  (Amazon)

Summary

From the Amazon description: "Within the struggle, joy, pain, and delight that attend our life, there is an invisible circle of grace that enfolds and encompasses us in every moment. Blessings help us to perceive this circle of grace, to find our place of belonging within it, and to receive the strength the circle holds for us." -from the Introduction.  Beginning in Advent and moving through the sacred seasons of the Christian year, Circle of Grace offers Jan's distinctive and poetic blessings that illuminate the treasures each season offers to us.

The book is a book of poetry blessings.  They move through the year, from Advent to Ordinary Time. The author calls the poems "blessings."

Impressions

This is a very lovely book.  I think it would be best read as in small bits, so that one could savor each poem-blessing.  Richardson writes well.  Each poem is very accessible on the surface, and then plunges to the depth of the spirit, bringing us profound understandings.   I highly recommend.  Be sure to also read the introduction for a wonderful description of what a blessing is.

Posts about book

Additional posts referencing this book will be tagged with Richardson Circle.