A Blessing for those that Mourn

I bless you to grieve

What must be grieved

In Ramah

That you will be healed

Of what must be healed

In your heart.

“Thus says the Lord:

‘A voice is heard in Ramah,

Lamentation and

Bitter weeping….’” (Jer. 31:15)

Ramah,

A few miles north of Jerusalem,

Was where the first exiles

Were corralled

And deported

On the long journey to Babylon.

Ramah

Was where mothers wailed

To watch their captive sons

Walk away

And where families shook

With shock as they were torn asunder.

There was no other way to Babylon

But through Ramah

And sometimes,

There is no other way to wholeness,

But through grief.

May God make your tears holy,

And healing, Child of God,

All holy, all healing.