Blessing of the Laptops

This is the time of year that we traditionally bless backpacks of all those returning to school. Many of our kids and teachers will be going back to school online. We’ve never had a back-to-school moment quite like this one. Many others continue to learn, work, and connect from home more than ever before, using our phones, tablets, and computers. Today, instead of blessing the backpacks, we’re going to bless our laptops and other devices.

If your device is easily within reach, grab it: your phone, your laptop, your tablet, whatever you might use to connect to others during this time of COVID-19.

A person with dark skin, wearing a white doctor's coat and a stethoscope around their neck, holds a cell phone in their hands.

Hold the device in your hands or lay your hands on it. I invite you to ground yourself in your chair. Feel the weight of your body on the chair. Feel your feet root into the earth, and allow your gaze to become soft. Close your eyes if you are comfortable.

Breathe in. 
Breathing in, feel the connection to your fellow Unitarian Universalists. 
Breathe out.
Breathing out, thank your device for the connection to the community.

Breathe in. 
Breathing in, cast your mind back to the generations of Universalists and Unitarians who met difficult times and kept going.
Breath out. 
Breathing out, thank your device for helping you meet difficult times and keep going.

Breathe in. 
Breathing in, feel in your hands the power to bless.
Breathe out. 
Breathing out, bless your own device.

Know that this power to bless is a breath away, and always available to you. You are sacred, and that energy runs through your hands, through the hands of all the Unitarian Universalists gathered here. You are part of that interdependent network, the interdependent web of all existence. We are better because of you, because of your blessings.

I invite you back into this space with open eyes and open hearts.

Know that our differences make us stronger. As computer geeks say, differences are a feature, not a bug! Whenever you may feel tempted towards doubt or division, remember that the power of blessing is in your own hands. May you go forth to love and bless much.