Rest Beloved

January 16, 2022 |

Let the darkness heal and tend you ~

 

There is so much weariness in these days when Covid fills the air and the hospitals.  Perhaps you are exhausted.  Perhaps you laugh with a sharp edge, or sigh at the thought of rest.  Perhaps it makes you angry that rest could even be suggested when you know how it is on the front lines. Or perhaps your days seem endless, all  you can do in these days of enclosure is what might pass for rest. 

Whether we’re snatching sleep or counting long hours of loneliness or managing I think we could all do with the rhythm of lullaby and the words that assure us that we are tended, healed, held through the darkness. 

Remember the Welsh lullaby All Through the Night.  Do you hear it’s gentle rhythm.  This is for you.

Rest belov’d and peace attend you
All through the night.
Let the darkness heal and tend you
All through the night
Through the breath of Christ and Spirit
Know yourself as one befriended
joined in God’s communal mending,
all through the night.

Rest belov’d within Christ’s weaving
all through the night.
Opened heart God’s grace receiving
all through the night.
Breathe through all your own concealments
tender grace in dark revealing,
casting round your life its healing,
all through the night.

 

Words:  Catherine E. Smith © 2020
Tune:    All Through the Night  (Welsh lullaby)

Posted in Individuals, Leaders of Faith Community and tagged , , , , ,

About Catherine Smith

A retired minister with the United Church of Canada I’ve grown up in church, been ordained and served communities that are small or in transition. I’ve seen firsthand just how powerful these experiences can be in helping to foster meaningful connections with others and the Other, the mystery that holds us all. My greatest hope is that my writing and this website will help you live well in the big questions that face all of us in this beautiful, aching world.

12 Comments

  1. Kerry L Howarth on January 19, 2022 at 9:09 am

    Love this Catherine and I love that song too, so soothing! Just what I need right now. ((( <3 )))

    Reply
    • Catherine Smith on January 21, 2022 at 8:33 am

      So glad, Kerry. Yes, I think we all need a song right now to help us find a loving rhythm.

      Reply
  2. Wendy on January 18, 2022 at 7:05 pm

    So beautiful, Catherine, and resonates with memories of the lullaby being sung to me. Christ’s love, Spirit grace…ahhh, such a good place to rest. Communal mending…o needed.

    Reply
    • Catherine Smith on January 19, 2022 at 7:25 am

      So glad the resonance is there, Wendy. Yes, communal mending so needed and rest is part of mending in countless ways.

      Reply
  3. Dorothy Wilson on January 18, 2022 at 8:58 am

    Just what I needed to read this morning, I feel sometimes the anxiety within me. Your words have a healing touch that calms the storm of uncertainty we are living through. Thank you Catherine.

    Reply
    • Catherine Smith on January 18, 2022 at 3:41 pm

      I’m so glad these words touched you in ways that were healing, Dorothy. Blessings of tenderness and hope to you.

      Reply
  4. Alice on January 18, 2022 at 6:17 am

    Love this. Thank you. ❤️🫂❤️

    Reply
    • Catherine Smith on January 18, 2022 at 3:38 pm

      blessings, Alice ~

      Reply
  5. Heather MacDougall on January 16, 2022 at 11:28 pm

    Beautiful Catherine…
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Catherine Smith on January 17, 2022 at 10:04 am

      Blessings, Heather ~

      Reply
  6. Claudette Derdaele on January 16, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    Thank you Catherine. So needed.

    Reply
    • Catherine Smith on January 16, 2022 at 9:23 pm

      Thank you, Claudette. Yes, holding this need in heart.

      Reply

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