A Moment of Blessing

Today I attended a Moment of Blessing sponsored by the Kitsap Interfaith Network. It was held at the site of a recent murder and arson. On October 31, Paymela Faye Long was found dead in her trailer home. the coroner ruled that the death was a homicide, having occurred before the fire started.

After a violent death or a suicide occurs, the ministers of KIN (formerly the Bremerton Ministerial Alliance) will gather to perform a blessing with friends and family and neighbors. The purpose is to offer the tragedy up into the hands of God, to bring some closure to those affected, and to do a ceremonial cleansing of the physical place where the death took place.

I arrived a little late for the blessing, and when I got out of my car, I heard the sound of singing. As I approached, I saw a little crowd gathered in front of the burned out shell of a trailer located at the end of a lane in a trailer park.

Our own Sister Kathryn-Mary Little was there in her habit of the Little Sisters of St. Clare, along with local ministers in their robes and a number of Paymela's friends and family members. George Larson, a retired minister, walked around the trailer and sprinkled holy water on the site to cleanse it and heal the emotional wounds represented by the charred remains of the trailer.

Sister Kathryn-Mary Little sounds the bell

He said, "We come together this day to reclaim this space of death as a place of life...this place where violence and despair occurred we are reclaiming as a place of life...this place that causes us fear, anger, and pain, we are reclaiming as a place of hope and beloved community."

We said the 23rd Psalm, the Beatitudes, and some powerful prayers. Friends and family members spoke about Pam. I was privileged to give the closing benediction. I thought the Moment of Blessing was a very powerful ceremony, and I'm glad I could be a part of it.

The liturgy for the Moment of Blessing can be found by clicking here.
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