<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Welcoming Blessing</div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">When you are lost<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">in your own life.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">When the landscape<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">you have known<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">falls away.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">When your familiar path<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">becomes foreign<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">and you find yourself<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">a stranger<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">in the story you had held<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">most dear.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Then let yourself<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">be lost.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let yourself leave<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">for a place<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">whose contours<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">you do not already know,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">whose cadences<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">you have not learned<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">by heart.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let yourself land<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">on a threshold<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">that mirrors the mystery<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">of your own<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">bewildered soul.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">It will come<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">as a surprise,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">what arrives<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">to welcome you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">through the door,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">making a place for you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">at the table<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">and calling you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">by your name.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let what comes,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">come.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let the glass<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">be filled.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let the light<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">be tended.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let the hands<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">lay before you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">what will meet you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">in your hunger.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let the laughter.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let the sweetness<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">that enters<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">the sorrow.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Let the solace<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">that comes<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">as sustenance<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">and sudden, unbidden<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">grace.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">For what comes,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">offer gladness.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">For what greets you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">with kindly welcome,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">offer thanks.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">Offer blessing<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">for those<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">who gathered you in<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">and will not<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">be forgotten—<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">those who,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">when you were<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">a stranger,<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">made a place for you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">at the table<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">and called you<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">by your name.<br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(38, 40, 42); color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Jan Richardson</div></div></body></html>