Devotional – December 10, 2025

From author Jan Richardson:

I always live with the awareness that I am traveling without a map, that I am making the path as I go, with all the wonders and challenges this brings. Yet Advent calls me to remember that even as I move across what seems like uncharted territory, there is a way that lies beneath the way I am going. Others have traveled here ahead of me, providing pieces I can use. The pieces come through words, images, prayers, stories; fragments that help me to find my way and perhaps to smooth the path a bit for someone else. So on this Advent day, I am tucking this blessing into your hand, for wherever you are traveling.

BLESSING THE WAY

With every step

you take,

this blessing rises up

to meet you.

It has been waiting

long ages for you.

Look close

and you can see

the layers of it,

how it has been fashioned

by those who walked

this road before you,

how it has been created

of nothing but

their determination

and their dreaming,

how it has taken

its form

from an ancient hope

that drew them forward

and made a way for them

when no way could be

seen.

Look closer

and you will see

this blessing

is not finished,

that you are part

of the path

it is preparing,

that you are how

this blessing means

to be a voice

within the wilderness

and a welcome

for the way.

—Jan Richardson

from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

janrichardson.com/books

Image: “In the Wilderness Prepare the Way”

© Jan Richardson

janrichardsonimages.com

Peace Be With You. – Paul