Bless us with the first breath of morning. Bless the packet
of seeds for the garden, shaking like a shaman’s rattle in
prayer. Bless us with spare change in our pockets to give to
the homeless, bless us with a heart that has been serviced
by the mechanic, bless us with good tires on the icy road.
Bless us so that we’re not just covering our own asses, but
weeping for the rest of the world. Bless our tears so that
they irrigate the land for the starving, that there be no
more drought. Bless us with one idea after another that we
might sort out the good from the bad, bless us with free
lunches and subscriptions, bless us with a winter storm so
big that it closes everything down for a week and we find
ourselves at the beginning of time. Bless us with water,
bless us with light, bless us with darkness, and bless us
with language. Bless our tongues that we can speak. Bless
our cars so they start. Bless our computers so that they
may connect to the Internet and bring us the news of the
universe. Bless Robert Bly and Gloria Steinem, bless all
the worn-out athletes whose bodies are falling apart, bless
the tides twice a day and the moon every month. Bless the
sun, bless us as we are blessing you, for this is a two-way
street, after all, and we’re in this thing together. Bless
mass transit and the first cup of coffee. Sing O ye frost
heaves and icy patches, praise the spruce trees all crowded
together, the crows in the trees flying heavenward and
earthward, flying everywhere in between. Bless the night
with its constellations that we have dreamed up. Bless
our stories that they may somehow be true, for this is
all we have. Bless all creatures great and small and the
basket makers who weave together a framework to hold
emptiness. Bless the empty spaces that are within our
bodies, the vast distances inside each cell. Bless each cell,
which is its own universe, ready to divide, split in two,
and make more than enough.