"God sees you as a blessing"
E172: An invitation and blessing for this New Year
May you have the wisdom to lean on one other.
May you have the courage to hold onto hope,
the compassion to do the good that is yours to do,
and the confidence to trust that God sees you as a blessing.
For in a world full of dead ends,
[this moment] invites us to begin again.
So start here.
Start now.
Start with love and begin again.
— Rev. Jacqui Foxall, Minister
Knox Presbyterian Church, Oakville
“… the confidence to trust that God sees you as a blessing.”
Me? Little old “me”? God sees “me” as a blessing? This phrase found me in the quiet and touched me deep inside.
The church was hushed, the dying notes of the organ supporting the choir’s last bars of the carol. I was quietly tucking away my music as the Minister blessed her congregation, the winter light streaming through the beautiful stain glass windows1 all around this beautiful church.
She blessed them. But I felt like she held a spotlight to my face as she crafted this blessing and was speaking directly to me: “… in a world full of dead ends” (geez, isn’t that just the way I am feeling right now? That the world is at sixes and sevens and upside downs?!) “[this moment2] invites us to begin again.
If you, too, are seeking a hope-filled and permission-laden blessing for the New Year amid the frenzy of 2024 accomplishment reviews and 2025 goal setting, I share this blessing with Rev. Foxall’s3 kind permission.
Why do blessings matter?
From John O’Donohue’s book “Benedictus - A Book of Blessings”:
A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal and strengthen. A blessing is different from a greeting, a hug, a salute or an affirmation; it opens a different door in human encounter. A blessing awakens future wholeness.
To invoke a blessing is to call some of that wholeness upon a person now. A blessing is from soul to soul.
When you bless someone, you literally call the force of their infinite self into action.
“Community” - My Word for 2025
For many, this is a time of year for resolutions and goal setting.
Instead, I choose a word to set my direction for the year. This year, the guiding word that started while chatting with
, whose volume has been quietly building as I read “Anxious Generation, and now is calling loudly is“Community”
Permission to “lean on each other”.
An invitation to bolster others by “doing the good that is mine to do”.
In a world seemingly at a dead end, to “start with love and begin again”.
In the role of encourager, to inspire others to discover their uniqueness and share their enoughness … because God (and I) see them as a blessing.
“Start now.”
New Year Conversation starter:
Where were you on New Year’s Eve 1999, at the dawn of this new century? 25 years later, how is the world the same, and how is it different?
Wow, Tribe Tilt! The last edition of 2024 … a year that ended quite differently from what I expected. How about you?
If you are one of the 16 new subscribers this week joining our Tribe Tilt from Russia, Romania, Israel, USA, Brazil and Germany, welcome! We are a powerful, wonderful group. We believe we can make a difference to the people and places that are precious to us, with fun, hope and agency in our lives. We believe that the best ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. Please do add your voice to our conversations.
Stay healthy. From there all else becomes possible.
Wishing you all blessings for 2025! Until next week …
Karena
Knox Presbyterian Church in Oakville is where our community choir of 100 voices aged 14-84 practices each Tuesday evening at 7pm. In the autumn months I shuffle into place besides Anne Marie and Cathy and watch the sun set behind these beautiful stained glass window, casting spears of colour across the pews. Tempus Choral Society sings a cross section of music: Broadway, jazz, sacred, modern in a variety of languages.
In Rev. Foxall’s original text this said “Advent invites us to begin again”
If you would like to join Knox Presbyterian’s congregation in person or remotely, click here for replays and discover more about this ministry that stretches from one end of Canada to the other. This was one of my first services at Knox, and Rev. Foxall’s words moved me.
Blessing and Community- two things wrapped up so beautifully together in this one. ♥️
On New Year’s Eve 1999, we were in Louisville, Ky. I didn’t know it or plan it but two and a half months later I quit my job to go freelance. I’m glad I did.
How is the world the same? Gravity is still the law, death and taxes are still unavoidable, and the sun still rises in the east. I know that sounds flippant but I don’t mean it that way. I find it useful to remind myself of constants that are far bigger than me.
(OK, here’s a flippant answer to “how is the world the same?” ~ The Rolling Stones are still together.)
How has the world changed? I believe we’ve seen the end of the 20th century politically and culturally. What comes next? I think the prospects are both exciting and scary.
Best wishes for you and yours in 2025.