Jacob's Blessing

From unexpected depths

came unexpected life,

harmed and damaged as

measured by a man but
beautiful still as
imagined by God.

To imagine beauty
from brokenness is
to create an idea,
a song, a symphony,
a verse, a prayer,
a story, a life.

Jacob wrestled in creation,
the lifting of his heart always
pointing upward, becoming
a vessel, the vessel of blessing
to those who listen,
to those who hear.


I’ve been reading Parting the Waters by Jeanne Damoff, the story of the hear-drowning of her son Jacob. I’ll have more on the book later this week. But this poem started yesterday and wouldn’t let go. It still won’t.

Photograph: Fern on white stone by Nancy Rosback. Used with permission.