A benediction

I wonder what would happen if once a week we each wrote a benediction and then sent it to 5 random friends.

September 3 2025

September has always felt to me more like the New Year than January 1st ever did. It’s possible that being married to a teacher helped to ingrain this in me. Or maybe any parent with kids (who live where the school year starts in September) feels this way. I’m much more likely to have a list of resolutions lined up for the start of September than I ever did for New Years Day. September always felt like a fresh start, and that still is the case for me long after my children are finished with their first day back at school.

September feels like the perfect time to take on a new practice; to add something beneficial to one’s life. I wonder if you feel the same.

I’d like to make a case for the ‘secular benediction’; adding this practice to your life in some way. I’d love to hear what you think. Would you be willing to try this?

I wrote this piece in my Thought Diary on June 7, and I’ve since incorporated a secular benediction at the end of my emails and this weekly newsletter. It’s a bit of a ritual. And it reminds me of what matters, and what I want from life.

From my Thought Diary

Saturday, June 7 2025

A benediction

I just finished reading Anne Bogel’s Don’t Overthink It: Make Better Decisions, Stop Second Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life, and it ends with a ‘benediction’, and I want to think more about that.

Anne is from the Episcopal faith tradition, where the end of each service ends with a ‘good word’, to carry with you into the rest of your day or week.

Benediction: the utterance or bestowing of a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service.

Here’s my working definition, for now, of a form of secular benediction: words of hope or encouragement that you provide to others, not in response to any specific situation, but simply to bring more positivity to our days.

A benediction isn’t advice about an actual situation – drink lots of water when you are feeling sick. A benediction isn’t a vague hope – I hope you get feeling better.

In my definition it is the voicing of an aspiration, encouraging the recipient to grasp the very best life they can, even in the smallest of ways.

Here’s a benediction I found on the internet.

May that which strengthens you, sustain you.
May that which lights your way, ever guide you.
May that which brings you happiness, be always with you.
And may love and peace never be a stranger to you.

Here is a secular benediction that suits a traveller:

May your days be filled with curiosity, your journey marked by explorations, and your spirit be ignited by the wonders of the world.

I like it.

A few weeks ago I sent a quick message of appreciation that ended with three sentences that I now realize were entirely within the benediction form. I wonder what would happen if once a week we each wrote a benediction and then sent it to 5 random friends.

Something to think about.

So what would your benediction be? What would it say about you? What effect would it have on those who heard it?

Let me know if you give it a try.

Here’s some of the feedback I received from my original post on The Travel Paradox:

Louise Tilbrook 🍁 said ‘This is so lovely. I’m very tempted to add a secular benediction of sorts into my journal. Your commonplace journal suggestion sounds perfect’.

Benthall Slow Travel came up with this benediction for the week: May you find beauty in the detours, laughter in the ordinary, and time enough to notice your own life.

Sherry V. Chidwick reminded us of the Irish blessing:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
The rain fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

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