Image: Between Heaven and Earth
© Jan Richardson
Reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, Year A, Proper 11/Ordinary 16/Pentecost +8: Genesis 28:10-19a
And [Jacob] dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
—Genesis 28:12
If you are betwixt, if you are between, if you are in the midst and the middle and the muck, if you have left what you have known and cannot yet see the way ahead, this is for you.
Blessing for the Place Between
When you come
to the place between.
When you have left
what you held
most dear.
When you are traveling
toward the life
you know not.
When you arrive
at the hardest ground.
May it become
for you
a place to rest.
May it become
for you
a place to dream.
May the pain
that has pressed itself
into you
give way
to vision,
to knowing.
May the morning
make of it
an altar,
a path,
a place to begin
again.
—Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief
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Using Jan’s artwork
To use the image Between Heaven and Earth, please visit this page at janrichardsonimages.com.
Using Jan’s words
For worship services and related settings, you are welcome to use this blessing without requesting permission. All that’s needed is to acknowledge the source. Please include this info in a credit line: “© Jan Richardson from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief. janrichardson.com.” For other uses, visit Copyright Permissions.
July 18, 2026 at 2:23 PM |
Born out of pain and lovely and hopeful! Thanks for sharing.
July 18, 2026 at 3:13 PM |
this is soo soo beautiful. you just filled my lungs. thank you.