There is a chaos that arrives at the end of summer and a new school year begins. Even when I didn’t have children of my own, it was in my body. I expected there to be a huge shift. I felt unsteady and uncertain about what might come next.

Autumn arrives and then whatever might be defined as normal returns.

There are things to be done. A list is started. Sometimes on multiple scraps of paper because inevitably the first attempt at making a list gets lost. Or the dog eats it because even he doesn’t want life to return to this realm of so-called normal.

Even in the beginning of a new school year, with a fresh to do list, it’s hard not to feel behind. Something has already fallen to the bottom of the list. It’ll get done, probably, but it won’t be today. There are other things to tend.

And then, there is the news. There are things happening in the world that cause you to doubt that any of the things on your list really matter. People are dying. War persists and hate looms much too large. Don’t even get me started on the election coverage.

Maybe this is familiar to you. It is for me and this feeling is one that has emerged again and again in my conversations with my directees. After one of those conversations, I needed to find words for this feeling and so I wrote this blessing that I’m sharing with you as the new school year announces its list of demands.

I hope it’s something you can keep tucked away in the folders of your email and return to when you most need to remember that you can’t do it all. You are doing enough and I’m grateful that you are out there in the world making a way for more love.

A version of this post first appeared in my digital spiritual direction ministry on Prayer Threads. If you liked what you read here, I hope you’ll share with me in more prayers. Use the button below to subscribe.