Bestowals and Blessings
For you to receive or share with others
Am I Theo?
No I am not, but based on some of the responses I got to my post yesterday, folks beyond just my wife see at least some of Theo in me.
At the end of my post yesterday, I shared about an offer inspired by Theo’s bestowals in the book. Here’s what I am feeling led to share.
In the book, Theo sees all the portrait sketches on the wall of The Chalice (coffee house) and those inspire him to purchase them and share not only the sketches but blessings with the subject of each in a conversation at a bench in Golden. (Hence Theo of Golden).
As I read each bestowal, I saw how I have been doing something similar in my off-line life. In the congregation I serve, I write prayer and birthday cards drawing from sunrise photos I made into notecards. I have also done similar with other photographs for friends and family.
In the spirit of Theo and in what I have been doing for the last several years, I’d like to offer a to you for yourself or for people in your life.
Bestowals and Blessings
If you tell me a bit about who I am writing for, I will select a photograph that I have in my library (or photograph something new) and write a blessing that will be written on the back of the print. And then I’ll mail it to you to deliver to your friend (or I’d mail it directly to them if you’d like). Here’s one example of a blessing I recently shared with a dear friend who offered me a beautiful gift of grace during a difficult period in my life. (He gave me permission to share it here)
For those who are paid subscribers, this is something I’ll do at no charge to you as a thank you for supporting my work here. For those who are free subscribers, I would simply ask a donation of $5 (or whatever you would like to do) for my time, supplies, and mailing via Venmo / Zelle / etc.
When the artist, Asher, shared about how people were experiencing the bestowals, Theo deferred by saying, “I simply help people sit still long enough to see what is already there.”1
What is already there are the gifts of kindness, presence, and love that we can share with others. I believe that I have a unique gift and a unique space from which to share. It is easy to be cynical and feel helpless about what we can do with all the ugliness in the world, but this is something I can do to push back against helplessness. As John O’Donohue wrote in that concluding chapter about recovering the lost art of blessing:
When we yield to helplessness, we strengthen the hand of those who would destroy. When we choose indifference, we betray our world. Yet the world is not decided by action alone. It is decided more by consciousness and spirit; they are the secret sources of all action and behavior....When you give in to helplessness, you collude with despair and add to it. When you take back your power and choose to see the possibilities for healing and transformation, your creativity awakens and flows to become an active force of renewal and encouragement in the world. In this way, even in your own hidden life, you can become a powerful agent of transformation in a broken, darkened world. There is a huge force field that opens when intention focuses and directs itself toward transformation.2
So if you would like to receive a blessing or have one shared with another, reply directly to this message (if you’re reading in email), click the button below, or comment below and I’ll be in touch!
Grace, Peace, Love, Hope, and Joy,
Ed
PS - Scout says she’d be happy to write a few blessings as well!
Levi, Allen. Theo of Golden: A Novel (p. 137). (Atria). Kindle Edition.
O’Donohue, John. To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings (pp. 215-216). Kindle Edition.
Edward, I write notes often to those who touch my life. I write on card stock that I will stamp simple pictures on then highlight with color. There are times I will buy a card or notes but seldom with words, just pictures that reflect the sentiment I will be sharing. Personally, I would consider buying assortment packages of your skilled photography. Thanks for being you!