Je Te Bénis

Je te benis

 

Je te bénis.

Words that were written in an old French prayer journal I found at the brocante.

Someone's hopes, dreams, thoughts, worries written down in prayer. Page after page. Someone's grandmother, mother, sister, aunt, cousin, friend… child.

How could it be given away? How I would love to have a collection of prayers from my great grandmothers.

Reading the journal I saw that her hopes, dreams, thoughts, worries were not much different than my own. Hopes of happiness, dreams of the future, thoughts of my family, worries concerning others and those things we need to work on to be better.

The voices in prayer, those of the past, present and to come… like a thread weaving the cloth as one, mending the tears, connecting one piece to another, creating a blanket to climb under and keep warm. And to spread out like a picnic blanket and nurture one another, and to wave high as a banner of for each other to see.

Are we each other's prayers?

Je te bénis, "I bless you" in French. You bless me. May we bless one another in our hopes, dreams, thoughts, and share each other's burdens.



Comments

29 responses to “Je Te Bénis”

  1. “Bénis”? Interesting.

  2. Off-topic: How is Sacha’s recuperation from his wisdom-teeth extractions progressing? Well, we hope.

  3. Hi Kathie
    Sacha’s four extractions (impacted) went wonderfully well. No pain, no swelling, big smile and was at school on Monday.
    He is a champion.
    C

  4. What beautiful writing and sentiment.

  5. What a spectacular treasure. Very happy to hear about Sacha, lucky young man he is (must be karma:)
    J’ai aussi Je te benis…

  6. Thanks for the good-news update, Corey. Now all Sacha needs to do is hope that, unlike my poor father, he doesn’t have a second set of wisdom teeth lurking beneath his gums just waiting to erupt now that there’s space for them along his jawline!

  7. So simple and beautiful, is the prayer/blessing. It brought tears to my eyes and you expressed the interconnectedness of all of us so wonderfully.
    I have been enjoying all your posts so much.
    Been away some on a 5 day meditation retreat at Spirit Rock in Marin, Ca, the first week of Dec. And, my Mom’s 88 year old partner, David passed away last week. My Mom Marian is 93, I spoke to her yesterday. She said on Tuesday afternoon she drove herself to the senior center and told all her friends, had hugs, and 3 min. of silence in memory of her David. She felt better after this. So touching how we can
    help each other in such simple ways. Loved hearing about your xmas shopping w/ annie and in Ca. w/ your Mom.
    Glad to hear Sacha is healing well.

  8. Glad to hear he is well and up going.

  9. What lovely thoughts to share this holiday season and as we approach the beginning of a new year.

  10. Blessings to you and your family.

  11. wise words…and the same for you Corey!

  12. A pastor I listened to recently said we shouldn’t ask people to be blessed during our prayers. He said we should ask God to “watch over” them. Isn’t that the same thing?
    May I second what you said in your last paragrah? God bless us, everyone.

  13. Brenda L. from TN.

    Thank you for the blessing.
    In return I ask God’s Blessing on you and your whole family. I ask for strength, courage, patience and wisdom.
    Merry Christmas!

  14. welltraveled

    Christmas blessing to you and your lovely family

  15. Beautiful sentiments! May you and yours be truly blessed.

  16. Oh, that is so beautiful! Thank you.

  17. Beautiful! I love your descriptive words of a “blanket to climb under”. Yes, we must cover each other with prayers.

  18. someday we must meet…

  19. you are beautiful with words Corey!

  20. Blessings to everyone here.

  21. This has to be one of the most beautiful and most poignant messages that I have read as of late. My Father just left on November 17th and this message of yours speaks personally to me. I mean, you always DO speak personally to me because I feel we are sisters of a different mother for sure. I just WISH I had your
    Mother. Thank you Corey. Je te benis…… and the blanket for sure………….
    Hugs and kiss kiss,
    missy

  22. Bless you! God bless us one and all.

  23. It is 2:40am in my home state and I am up working and reading. Thank you so for this blog and the blessing of your sweet words…now my insomnia has not been in vain.

  24. mademoisellerue

    So beautiful and inspirational first thing with my a.m. coffee!You so have a way with words!

  25. …i have not written in ages and ages and ages…but i must tell you…i believe this great grandmother wrote those words for you…they have been waiting for you all this time…for you to move to france…for you to understand the french language (and the french heart)… for you to discover them…simply waiting under God’s direction to find their way to you…amen amen amen…blessings…laney

  26. I do not pray in the Christian sense of the word. That is to say, I don’t say my prayers to Jesus or his father nor any other God of a formal religion. That is because I am not a christian. I do not in fact believe in any God other than one who can only be known by one’s self. That is to say, that I believe that if there is a God, that that entity speaks to each of us in a voice that only we can hear. But I want to say that all of your writing about faith and prayer are not lost on me. I love every entry. There is not a single one which has not uplifted my spirit. I believe that spirit flows from person to person and the legacy of hopes and dreams, wishes and prayers which we pass to our children and their children as well as from friend to friend is as precious beyond gold. Thank you for sharing your own faith so freely and for inviting us all to share in your legacy of hopes and dreams!

  27. Hi Corey,
    These words written in the language of my youth brought tears to my ears as I remembered my french grandmother’s french prayers and also the prayers of my childhood. Vous est benis aussi, Corey…Joyeux Noel:-)))

  28. Those prayers weave together the threads of the blanket that brings comfort to the heart and soul proving we are each connected by the spirit of love. Thank you. Holiday blessings to you and all those dear to your heart.

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