Wednesday Words - Love in a Time of Conflict

For this week's Wednesday Words, I've chosen a blessing by John O'Donohue written for those who are in need of restoration and healing during a time of strife and pain. As a pastor, I'm all too familiar with the many ways hurt, disagreement, resentment, and bitterness destroy relationships. If you and someone you love are in a time of conflict, I pray that the grace and agape-love of Christ will fill and guide you.

For Love in a Time of Conflict

When the gentleness between you hardens
And you fall out of your belonging with each other,
May the depths you have reached hold you still.

When no true word can be said, or heard,
And you mirror each other in the script of hurt,
When even the silence has become raw and torn,
May you hear again an echo of your first music.

When the weave of affection starts to unravel
And anger begins to sear the ground between you,
Before this weather of grief invites
The black seed of bitterness to find root,
May you souls come to kiss.

Now is the time for one of you to be gracious,
To allow a kindness beyond thought and hurt,
Reach out with sure hands
To take the chalice of your love,
And carry it carefully through this echoless waste
Until this winter pilgrimage leads you
Toward the gateway to spring.

"For Love in a Time of Conflict" by John O’Donohue 
from To Bless the Space Between Us, (Doubleday) © 2008.