Tuesday, April 30, 2019

A Queer Christian Blessing: Prayers Upon the End of the Seminar



A poem for my students
inspired by the Spring 2019 syllabus
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May your life be full of many beginnings

And may you never lose your creativity.

May you find and form communities

But may your feast tables always have seats open for the stranger.

May you speak truth to power

Even when it flies in the face of what people have known

May your letters never just be one way

But ongoing correspondence across the ages.

May you cherish the good that is given

But not be afraid to explore change and new worlds.

May you be big enough to see across many vistas

But small enough to retain a sense of wonder and uncertainty.

May you give light and life to your inner self

And may the world learn better how to see that light.

May you imagine visions of worlds big and small

And may you have faithful companions to help bring them into being.

May you find room enough in your wading pools for a neighbor,

Because there are more than one way to love.

May you reach out of isolation

And find community and strength in one another.

May you find to wisdom and strength for the mountains you must climb

And may we make the road easier for those who come behind us.

May the road ahead be brighter than the roads behind

As one good grows apart from another good and yet shines brighter for its company.

May we find ways to survive even the worst of times,

And find support that will not take advantage of us in our moment of need.

May you gain the courage to leave places and things that do not serve your growth

And yet bring with you those things and people who can help you on the way.

May you love goodness and know truth beyond yourself,

And find ways not to exploit but instead to amplify the good and truth of others.



May you reject moral apathy, intellectual laziness, and boredom,

As you focus on the elements of goodness, truth, and beauty around us.

May you walk away from this class learning something of how to learn

And keep it with you as you become more yourself in the years to come.



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