Blessings for the Long Night: Poems and Meditations to Help You Through Depression
When you're in the midst of terrible depression, the days and weeks can feel like an eternity. From the author of The Long Night comes a beautiful collection of poems and meditations for those experiencing the long night of depression. In Blessings for the Long Night, Jessica Kantrowitz's moving poetry acknowledges the pain and relentlessness of depression and offers gentle presence and hope. This book does not promise healing or deliverance; it is not a guide to praying away the depression. Rather, through these poems, Jessica Kantrowitz, who has been where you are, hopes to sit next to you in the dark while you wait for the light to emerge. The message, repeated and built on throughout the book, is simply, "You are not alone, you are loved, and this will not last forever."
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Jessica Kantrowitz is the author of The Long Night: Readings and Stories to Help You through Depression and 365 Days of Peace. She writes about theology, culture, social justice, and chronic illness, including her own struggles with depression and migraines. She worked as a storyteller for Together Rising, and her writing has been featured in The Salt Collective, Faithlife Blog, Sojourners, and The Madeline L'Engle Blog. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
"With Blessings for the Long Night, Jessica Kantrowitz is not just a poet, but a tender witness who knows the dark, and a steady companion who will stay until dawn." --Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed
"In our most recent and peculiar season, where each of us is unmoored, pressing through, or weighed down, these words anoint and sustain. Jessica Kantrowitz's intimate knowledge of the terrain and her steady presence, both on social media and here in these pages, welcome and bless a weary soul." --Deidra Riggs, author of ONE: Unity in a Divided World; Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) coach
"This book is a wonderful prayer, words for those who need to know they are not alone in this world. Jessica Kantrowitz offers us grace and companionship through gentle pages that encourage readers to trust, feel, and thrive." --Tanaya Winder, author of Why Storms Are Named after People and Bullets Remain Nameless, musician, and motivational speaker
"Depression may not be your particular 'noonday demon, ' but it is for someone you love. And there's no better guide to that interior landscape than Jessica Kantrowitz. For the sufferer, this entire book is a warm blanket, a gentle hug, a wounded healer bringing hot tea and your favorite snack. 'Peace, ' says the healer. 'Rest. We will wait with you.'" --Sarah Arthur, author of A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L'Engle
"In the midst of the darkness of these times, Jessica's words in Blessings for the Long Night are a bright beacon of light to those who are doing their best to keep on keeping on." --Rev. Nick F. Scutari, Pastor, First UMC New Ulm, Minnesota
"So many people in these hard days are telling us to take deep breaths. But when Jessica Kantrowitz says it--when her poems say it--your body actually obeys. When Jessica's poems say 'anoint, ' 'bless, ' 'ordain'--you get taller. Your eyes open wider. You step forth. To read this book is to connect your depleted soul to a current of understanding and patience and strength that will light not only your darkness, but others' as well." --Judith Kunst, author of The Burning Word and The Way Through
