driving with the windows wide open: Baby blessings

We are blessing my good friend this weekend, six weeks before her little one is due. I thought I'd share some Baby Blessings. If you're going to the shower and you plan to use one of these, please write so in the comments at the end of this post so that no one else uses the same one.

Charge to the Child (by Joy Harjo)

Remember the sky that you were born under,

Know each of the stars stories.

Remember the moon, know who she is.

Remember the sun’s birth at damn that is the

Strongest point of time. Remember sundown

And the giving away to night.

Remember your birth, how your mother struggled

To give you form and breathe. You are evidence of

Her life, and her mother’s and hers.

Remember your father. He is your life also.

Remember the earth whose skin you are:

Red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth

Brown earth, we are earth.

Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their

Tribes, their families, their histories too. Talk to them,

Listen to them. They are alive poems.

Remember the wind. Remember her voice.

She knows the origin of this universe.

And that this universe is you.

Remember that all is in motion, is growing, is you.

Remember that language comes from this.

Remember the dance that language is, that life is.

Remember.

A baby was created by the hand of God Above, to give the world the sweetest touch of tenderness and love.

With the softest whisper God made baby's skin, then designed two trusting eyes to put starlight in.

With giggles from a waterfall and breezes passing by, God made a baby's laughter and a tiny, sleepy sigh.

God made the world a precious gift more dear and pure than gold, With little toes to play with and tiny hands to hold.

He sent this brand new person on moonlight's reflection gleam, All wrapped up in a rainbow of wonder, hope, and dreams.

Speak to Us of Children (by Kahil Gibran)

Your children are not your children

They are the sons and daughers of life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you.

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

Which you can not visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterdays.

You are bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer seeks the mark upon the path of the infinite,

And he bends you with His might that His arrow may go swift and far.

Let your blending in the archer’s hand be for goodness.

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

So He loves the bow that is stable.

Blessing

With abiding confidence and affection, we send you forth on your journey of life. May you be filled with thanks and wonder, humor and fun, hope and perseverance so that you may grow in wisdom and grace.

May God’s blessings rest upon you, may His peace abide with you, and may Her presence illuminate your hearts now and forever more. Go in peace.

"I Am Love"

Author Unknown

"Some say I can fly on the wind, yet I haven’t any wings.

Some have found me floating on the open sea, yet I cannot swim.

Some have felt my warmth on cold nights, yet I have no flame.

And though you cannot see me,

I lay between two lovers at the hearth of fireplaces.

I am the twinkle in your child’s eyes.

I am hidden in the lines of your mother's face.

I am your father's shield as he guards your home.

And yet… Some say I am stronger than steel, yet I am as fragile as a tear.

Some have never searched for me, yet I am around them always.

Some say I die with loss, yet I am endless.

And though you cannot hear me, I dance on the laughter of children.

I am woven into the whispers of passion.

I am in the blessings of Grandmothers.

I embrace the cries of newborn babies.

And yet… Some say I am a flower, yet I am also the seed.

Some have little faith in me, yet I will always believe in them.

Some say I cannot cure the ill, yet I nourish the soul.

And though you cannot touch me, I am the gentle hand of the kind.

I am the fingertips that caress your cheek at night.

I am the hug of a child.

I am love.”

From: Everyday Blessings:

The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting

by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn

“When we become parents, whether intentionally or by happenstance, our whole life is

immediately different, although it may take some time to realize just how much. Being a parent

compounds stress by orders of magnitude. It makes us vulnerable in ways we weren’t before. It

calls us to be responsible in ways we weren’t before. It challenges us as never before, and

takes out time and attention away from other things, including ourselves, as never before. It

creates chaos and disorder, feelings of inadequacy, occasions for arguments, struggles,

irritation, noise, seemingly never-ending obligations and errands, and plenty of opportunities

for getting stuck, angry, resentful, hurt, and for feeling overwhelmed, old, and unimportant.

And this can go on not only when the children are little, but even when they are full grown and

on their own. Having children is asking for trouble.

"So why do it? Maybe Pete Seeger said it best: ‘We do it for the high wages…kisses.’ Children

give us the opportunity to share in the vibrancy of life in ways we would not touch were they

not part of our lives….they share …[their] vital nature with us and call it out of us as well, if

we can listen carefully to the calling.”

"Apache Blessing"

"May the sun bring you new energy by day,

May the moon softly restore you by night,

May the rain wash away your worries

And the breeze blow new strength into your being,

And all of the days of your life may you walk

Gently through the world and know its beauty."

Every Person Born into This World

From a passage by Martin Buber (adaptation)

Every person born into this world represents something new, something that never existed

before, something original and unique. It is the duty of every person in Israel to know and

consider that he is unique in the world in his particular character, and that there has never

been someone like him before. For if there had been someone like him before, there would be

no need for him to be in the world. Every single person is a new thing in the world and is

called upon to fulfill his particularity in the world.

Children learn what they live.

If a child lives with criticism, she learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule, she learns to be shy.

If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilt.

If a child lives with tolerance, she learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.

If a child lives with praise, she learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.

If a child lives with security, she learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval he learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance, he or she learns to find love in the world.

Untitled

Excerpts from Francis Thompson and William Blake

Know you what it is to be a child? ... It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of

baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little

that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice

into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, - for each child has a fairy god-

mother in his/her own soul; it is to live in a nutshell and count yourself the king/queen of

infinite space; it is:

To see the World in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

Omaha Native American Children's Blessing

Sun, Moon, Stars, all you that move in the heavens, hear us!