MAY GOD BLESS YOU with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths,
and superficial relationships
so that you may live
deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression,
and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for
justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain,
rejection, hunger, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand
to comfort them and
to turn their pain to joy.
And may God bless you
with enough foolishness
to believe that you can
make a difference in the world,
so that you can do
what others claim cannot be done,
to bring justice and kindness
to all our children and the poor.
This is often called “A Franciscan blessing”, but the first three parts seem to have been written in 1985 by a Benedictine nun called Sister Ruth Marlene Fox. (Thanks to Daryl Martin for finding it!)
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