August Twenty-Twenty-Two

 

A blessing for the start of a new school year

(Is anyone really ready?!)

The year is tilting toward the start of school again,

but truth be told, we’re not ready.

We’re still hanging on to summer, to the promise it held

for long-awaited connections and celebrations,

for refreshment for our bodies and souls

in water and sky and color and sunlight,

and all those little moments given to us

where we could linger just a little longer.

Now that it’s almost over, we don’t want to let it go.

The beauty. The freedom. All that was life giving.

God, could you help us stretch it, extend it,

and maybe even blend it

into this coming school year?

Parents, students, teachers, all,

May your newly-structured days breathe with creativity,

your new duties be infused with delight.

As you write on those fresh new calendars

May you trust that your plans are a lot like magic ink.

Much may seem to disappear into obscurity,

but whatever is done in love will remain. 

Amen. 

-Kate Bowler 

giving thanks for the last month of summer with some sweet family time, a pilgrimage of sorts back to Alaska, time in the mountains, and the bittersweetness of Anna heading back to college for her sophomore year....