Dear Hot Metal Family,

Blessings on another week as Allegheny County remains under Stay-At-Home orders. I know for some of you it's another week of continuing to get used to this new reality, and for others it brings some familiar and some new struggles.

It is ok to name many of the struggles and feelings some of us are having as grief. The world is undergoing a trauma and change - both of which mean significant losses. Some are grieving the death of loved ones; others are grieving the loss of connection and the ability to do things they love. All are valid forms of grief.

So I offer you this poem/blessing from one of my favorite poets, Jan Richardson. It's from her book The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief. While she wrote many of the poems in the book in the wake of the death of her husband, I have found solace in her work in a variety of times in my life. May they bring some comfort to you in this time.

"Blessing for Falling Into a New Layer of Grief" by Jan Richardson
You thought
you had hit
every layer possible,
that you had found
the far limit
of your sorrow,
your grief.

Now the world falls
from beneath your feet
all over again,
as if the wound
were opening
for the first time,
only now with
an ache you recognize
as ancient.

Here is the time
for kindness--
your own, to yourself--
as you fall,
and fall,
as you land hard
in this layer
that lies deeper than
you ever imagined
you could go.

Think of it as
a secret room--
this space
that has opened
before you,
that has opened
inside you,
though it may look
sharp in every corner
and sinister
no matter where
you turn.

Think of it as
a hidden chamber
in your heart
where you can stay
as long as you need,
where you will
find provision
you never wanted
but on which
your life will now
depend.

I want to tell you
there is treasure
even here--
that the sharp lines
that so match your scars
will lead
to solace,
that this space
that feels so foreign
will become for you
a shelter.

So let yourself fall.
It will not be
the last time,
but do not let this be
cause for fear.

These are the rooms
around which your
new home will grow--
the home of your heart,
the home of your life
that welcomes you with such completeness,
opening and
opening and
opening itself to you,
no part of you
turned away.


In Christ's peace,
Pastor Erin