A Blessing for Dreaming by Jan Richardson
This blessing begins behind your eyelids when at last
you close them
for sleep
and all that you have seen in this day
begins to play itself again.
You watch the scenes
as they repeat themselves:
everything done
or undone,
all the moments that brought worry or delight,
the meetings and crossings that gave gladness
or pain.
Let these scenes unwind, and then
let them go.
Beneath them,
behind them,
other pictures are waiting, other stories wanting
to draw your gaze
like paintings
on the walls of a chapel
no one has seen
for centuries,
or shimmering from the pages of an ancient prayer book
that falls open
in your hands.
Open the eyes
behind your eyes
and see what reveals itself only in the dark,
only in this house
made of dreaming
where you can
lay yourself down
and you can rest
now.
Service Art:
Image: Midwinter midnight, deep
Image: Christmas Star - olivier jules - creative commons