Why the title? What does it mean to me? Benediction for the Unseen…

What does A Benediction for the Unseen mean?

It means this:

A benediction is a blessing, but not just any blessing—
It is the kind given at the end of a service.
The kind that says:
You are not leaving empty-handed.

It is a declaration of peace, protection, and presence
spoken over people
before they return to whatever world they must re-enter.

And the unseen?

Those are the ones no one noticed.
The ones who lived in the shadows—
not metaphorically,
but in bone-deep, daily ways.

The ones whose pain was never named.
Whose body was never safe.
Whose voice was never asked for.
Whose story was too complicated for Sunday school.
Whose faith never fit the mold but never went out completely.

So—

A Benediction for the Unseen

is a blessing spoken over the ones
who were passed by,
cut off,
dismissed,
discarded,
or left carrying a silence that was never theirs to bear.

It says:
You are not invisible to God.
You are not irredeemable.
You are not too late.
You are not broken beyond blessing.

It says:
Even in the land of death-shade,
a light has shone.

It is not a book that waves the banner of victory.
It is one that kneels beside the bones
and says, I see you. I stayed, too.
And breath is coming.