My dear friends, I pray with you,
asking our great Creator a blessing upon us.
May we be opened –
our eyes
our ears
our hearts
our souls –
to the Presence that has formed us –
in all others,
in all creation,
in everything.
May we go with the knowing
that we are bound together in the glory of God’s grace –
a family united –
despite stirrings of hatred and contempt,
despite longings of loneliness and fear –
may we go from here together
even when we are apart
with the knowing of all eternity,
into the loving embrace of God’s perfectly imperfect world.

Finally, my friends, above all I pray
that we may remember the worlds of our dear brother,
Dietrich –
that blessing means to lay our hands upon another and whisper,
“despite everything, you belong to God.”