I Owe Ten Thousand Tears

I owe ten thousand 

Tears for ten thousand species

Extinctified. Gone.

Source of all blessings

you bless us with change we did not seek or want.

You push us out of our ruts and comfort and ask us

to learn and adapt and grow and question

and survive and to thrive

and to appreciate the “now”,

for we know its value and that “now”

will not be the same as “then”.

May we grow from

unexpected, even difficult, change

and look for the riches

in every experience.*

*Format based on Br. David Steindl-Rast’s, 99 Blessings.