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Praise for Gunilla Norris
“Gunilla Norris brings a new awareness
of the sacred nature of all life.”
–Anne Bancroft, author of Weavers of Wisdom
“Gunilla Norris doesn’t tell you what to see, but how to see. She doesn’t tell you where to go, but how to know when you have arrived.”
–Rabbi Rami Shapiro
“Gunilla Norris’s meditations
are beautiful and human
and show the glory in the ordinary.”
–Madeline L’Engle
“Gunilla Norris’s remarkable reflections
on friendship inspire and guide us to the deep place where we can ‘see the stars in one another.’”
–Joyce Rupp, award-winning author
“Just reading [Norris’] makes you want to
sit down, take a deep relaxing breath,
and refresh your spirit.”
–Jack Kornfield, author A Path with Heart
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Published in 2020 by Little Bound Books
Cover Design by Daniel Dauphin
Interior Design by Leslie M. Browning
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Dedication
To my beloved grandchildren
Chloe
Hannah
Jacob
Naomi
Riley
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Also by the Author
On the Wing Joy is the Thinnest Layer Match Embracing the Seasons Sheltered in the Heart Being Home Becoming Bread Simple Ways A Mystic Garden Inviting Silence Companion on the Way Great Love in Little Ways
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks to my editor Leslie Browning and her trust in my work.
Gratitude to Natalie Billing for her careful reading and wonderful suggestions.
And love to dear friends who read the manuscript at different stages and gave me support.
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An Introduction to Blessing and Mutual Reflection
I once lived in a house with a small living room. The room had windows on only one wall, so it tended to be a dark space that felt tight and enclosed. When mirrors were strategically placed in two corners and on one other wall, the room suddenly became alive with light and felt much larger. Due to the reflecting mirrors, the light and spaciousness of the out-of-doors filled the room. It became a cozy, warm place to be.
When I think about the transformation of that room, I see it as a metaphor about mutual reflection. Whenever we mirror the light and goodness of another person, our common living room expands and is illumined. This is profound work that anyone can do. In times that are dark and difficult, we can feel both helpless as well as enraged and flip between the two states. What can sustain us? What can we be for without feeling ambivalent? I think it is the capacity to bless. The more we bless the more blessing there is. As abundant as salt is in the ocean, so blessing can be in our lives. When we understand this, we will find the amazing secret that in blessing we are in turn blessed.
We all have chances to transform what is confining and dark. A blessing may at first be experienced as very daunting: a diagnosis we dread, the loss of a loved one, a sudden change we are not prepared for. Yet, it is in meeting these challenges at our door that we might also meet what can make us whole. At the core, blessing is a way of claiming that even though goodness might for a time be invisible, it is nevertheless as close to us as breathing.
Blessing is always relational. As we reflect and act to support the goodness we see in others, we enhance one another and bring light to whatever we may be experiencing. We will be serving Life itself, and in doing so, much can change. Every single day, we can engage in small acts of mutual reflection and consideration that enlarge our common living spaces with possibility and goodness. This is immensely powerful. No such actions will ever be lost, though we may never see their ultimate outcomes.
To be seen, witnessed, and reflected touches us deeply. To be deeply touched, in a way that aligns with our nature, desire, or need is to be confirmed. This little book is about the blessing that arises out of such mutual recognition and reflection. I will tell you four stories that happened to me. They transformed me. Like reflecting mirrors, they brought more light into the paths my life has taken. Though the stories may not seem at first to belong to each other, they contain a similar message. In each one, I was blessed by what transpired. I hope these stories will inspire you to both mirror and reflect the light in others, and to remember your own blessing stories, particularly the ones that opened you, confirmed you, and helped to further your life.
I love little books like this, and I hope you do, too. Though they are quickly read, they can remind you, the reader, of something that feels like a necessity, something you need to mull over, digest, and put into use. I hope this will be true for you in reading this little book. To share our experiences, and to find joy in them brings us mutual light, inspiration, and confirmation.
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Notes About Blessing
God bless you, we say when someone sneezes. Once long ago, it was thought that when someone sneezed, their soul left their body, and so a blessing was needed to bring the soul back home. We don’t think this way in our time, but there is nevertheless an intuitive knowing that the soul needs