Your Monday Blessing words this morning come from friend and colleague the Rev. Judith Walker-Riggs. These words were the chalice lighting words for Cairo Street Unitarian Chapel’s 2016 Academy Service, a service in memory of the Warrington Academy, the school the chapel started, which lasted from 1756 to 1782, and had several prominent tutors and students including Joseph Priestley. It was very special to open the service with her words, as Judith and I have both served as two of a few dozen ministers of the chapel in their proud 300-year-plus history. Here are her words, a blessing for us all:
O thou great source of life
Whom some call God, and others find
Too large to name at all,
We join with the Earth
And with each other
To recreate the human community
Over and over learning the value of love
May we give it frequently
And the strength of loyalty
May we remain loyal to those we love.
So may we
Different as we are
Find ourselves to be
Part of one great living mystery
For blessed is the one within the many
And blessed are many who are one.
Rev. Bob Janis 