On the mind of the Rev. Adrian Dannhauser

Oct 15, 2022

On the mind of the Rev. Adrian Dannhauser…

This past Wednesday night was one of the best of my life. Thanks to all who came, or tuned in, to my book launch party for Ask Me for a Blessing (You Know You Need One). If you missed it, you can watch the program portion of the evening by clicking here.

I was honored to have Mayor Eric Adams and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry offer remarks. Seeing so many familiar faces in the book signing line (some of whom I hadn’t seen in years) was a total joy. And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a special shout out to Florin Georgescu, Susan Ridgeway and Thomas Reefer! It takes a village, and I’m forever grateful for their truly Herculean help.

Amidst so many meaningful memories, the real moment of grace for me was listening to the Presiding Bishop talk about the third verse of “Joy to the World”:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

nor thorns infest the ground;

he comes to make his blessings flow

far as the curse is found.

I’ll let you listen to the Presiding Bishop’s words, but here is my takeaway. While we rejoice in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, we know that the “curse” — the problem of sin — will always infect this world and even our own hearts. But no matter how much that curse manifests, and no matter how rampant it runs, we, as the Body of Christ and with God’s help, can always chase it down. Imperfect as we are, we can always meet the curse with blessing that flows through us as vessels of God’s grace, mercy and love.

There is so much hope for me in this image of blessing catching up to, and eventually overtaking, curse. This is God’s promise. This is God’s assurance that light will always outshine the darkness and, one day, will overcome it completely.

What a privilege that we can be the light because Christ’s light lives in us. We can be the blessing in our own day through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, to quote our Presiding Bishop’s favorite blessing: “God love you. God bless you. And may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love. Amen.”

Adrian+