Consider your year as a house…

We read this in Church yesterday. So many words struck me. I wanted to come home and reread it, and today, I reread it, curious if the exact words would cause me to pause. I wonder what words resonate with you?

The year as a house

16189100439_9146f0df2e_o.jpgThink of the year
as a house:
door flung wide
in welcome,

threshold swept
and waiting,
a graced spaciousness
opening and offering itself
to you.

Let it be blessed
in every room.
Let it be hallowed
in every corner.
Let every nook
be a refuge

and every object
set to holy use.

Let it be here
that safety will rest.
Let it be here
that health will make its home.
Let it be here
that peace will show its face.
Let it be here
that love will find its way.

Here
let the weary come
let the aching come
let the lost come
let the sorrowing come.

Here

let them find their rest
and let them find their soothing
and let them find their place
and let them find their delight.

And may it be
in this house of a year
that the seasons will spin in beauty,
and may it be
in these turning days
that time will spiral with joy.
And may it be
that its rooms will fill
with ordinary grace
and light spill from every window
to welcome the stranger home.

~Jan Richardson~

*italicized words resonated in my soul, not italicized in the original writing.