As I mentioned last week, I am raising money to support the Life As Spiritual Practice podcast. My microphone and laptop both died in December. My laptop was working so poorly, I re-recorded my sections of the last podcast I released! You can imagine how time-consuming that was.
I would love your help to keep the podcast going. THANK YOU to those who have already given! Up to this point, the podcast has been a complete donation of my time, energy, and money. I give to it because I believe in the importance of listening to each other’s stories, in the power of deep and open spaces, and in the potential of every moment of life to be spiritual practice. I am amazed by how many people share this journey and are fed by the podcast.
My hope in fundraising is to know that I do not have sole ownership of this endeavor. Truly, it belongs to all of us. I would be so grateful if you could partner with me in this work by giving even $5. Other ways you can help are by sharing the fundraiser with others, and by sharing episodes of the podcast with friends. You can also pray for me and for this work and for the way it might be a beacon of hope in 2020.
I will leave you with an Epiphany Blessing.I hope these words below, by Jan Richardson, bless the path unfolding before you.
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FAR TO TRAVEL
An Epiphany Blessing
If you could see
the journey whole
you might never
undertake it;
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.
Call it
one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it
only by stages
as it opens
before us,
as it comes into
our keeping
step by
single step.
There is nothing
for it
but to go
and by our going
take the vows
the pilgrim takes:
to be faithful to
the next step;
to rely on more
than the map;
to heed the signposts
of intuition and dream;
to follow the star
that only you
will recognize;
to keep an open eye
for the wonders that
attend the path;
to press on
beyond distractions
beyond fatigue
beyond what would
tempt you
from the way.
There are vows
that only you
will know;
the secret promises
for your particular path
and the new ones
you will need to make
when the road
is revealed
by turns
you could not
have foreseen.
Keep them, break them,
make them again:
each promise becomes
part of the path;
each choice creates
the road
that will take you
to the place
where at last
you will kneel
to offer the gift
most needed—
the gift that only you
can give—
before turning to go
home by
another way.
—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons