The following are a collection of readings, poems and prayers that can be brought into your baby blessing ceremony, baptism, baby naming ceremony or christening. They are one way of adding a certain flavor to your ceremony to help shape it into a beautiful baby blessing. For example, if you wanted to bring in a little religious flavor, you could choose a Bible reading. Or maybe you love poetry and want to express your feelings about your child through a beautiful poem. Or perhaps a certain reading distills the perfect essence of parenthood and you would like to share it to inspire your loved ones. Please note that one way of honoring a loved one or a friend is to invite them to participate in the ceremony by sharing a baby reading, poem or prayer. This adds drama, warmth, connection and joy to your ceremony. You could also share the reading, poem or prayer yourself, either to your partner, or together. Of course, you can always have one of our celebrants enthusiastically present your favorite passage as you take in its rich joy and meaning on your miraculous day.

From "The Prophet"
By Kahlil Gibran

"And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said,
'Speak to us of Children.'
And he said:
'Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable."

"This Bridge"
by Shel Silverstein

"This bridge will only take you halfway there
To those mysterious lands you long to see:
Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fairs
And moonlit woods where unicorns run free.
So come and stay awhile with me and share
The twisting trails and wondrous worlds I’ve known.
But this bridge will only take you halfway there –
The last few steps you’ll have to take alone."

Every Person Born into This World
From a passage by Martin Buber (adaptation)

Every person born into this world represents something new, something that never existed
before, something original and unique. It is the duty of every person in Israel to know and
consider that he is unique in the world in his particular character, and that there has never
been someone like him before. For if there had been someone like him before, there would be
no need for him to be in the world. Every single person is a new thing in the world and is
called upon to fulfill his particularity in the world.

Children learn what they live.

If a child lives with criticism, she learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, she learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilt.
If a child lives with tolerance, she learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, she learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, she learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance, he or she learns to find love in the world.

Untitled
Excerpts from Francis Thompson and William Blake

Know you what it is to be a child? ... It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of
baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little
that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice
into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, - for each child has a fairy god-
mother in his/her own soul; it is to live in a nutshell and count yourself the king/queen of
infinite space; it is:
To see the World in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.


Omaha Native American Children's Blessing

Sun, Moon, Stars, all you that move in the heavens, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, that he may reach the brow of the first hill!

Winds, Clouds, Rain, Mist, all you that move in the air, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, that he may reach the brow of the second hill!

Hills, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes, Trees, Grasses, all you of the earth, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, that he may reach the brow of the third hill!

Birds, great and small, that fly in the air,
Animals, great and small, that dwell in the forest,
Insects that creep among the grasses and burrow in the ground, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, that he may reach the brow of the fourth hill!

All you of the heavens, all you of the air, all you of the earth, hear us!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Make his path smooth, then shall he travel beyond the four hills!

Understanding the meaning of the Medicine Wheel depends on the concept that a person's life
consists of"conquering the four hills: Infancy, Youth, Maturity and Old Age. The four stages
are celebrated in ritual as the four prime moments in life corresponding to the four directions.

The first hill is the South (innocence and trust) where the infant's reception into life occurs. The
second hill, that of introspection, in the West, becomes the youth's solitary vigil and quest for
vision. This first quest seeks the revelation of the Great Spirit's manifestation and continuing
presence.

This is the time when a power animal attribute enters a Native individual's soul becoming a
part of his or her name. (Sitting Bull, Black Elk, Crazy Horse and so on). It marks the
beginning of the dweller within, the dreaming soul that contacts the higher spiritual planes
bringing back visions that serve as fundamental guide posts in life. The hill of maturity lies to
the North and represents the successful realization of ability and ambition. It is the place of
recognition in which the pursuit of wisdom underlies and nourishes all action.

Sympathy with life itself grows in this quarter.

The final hill is that of old age situated in the East. It represents a quiet, reflective and
meditative segment where the old ones now can pass on their knowledge to youth as they have
mastered the meaning of joy and sorrow and the many other trials and tribulations encountered
over the course of their existence.


by Spike Milligan

There is a song in man
There is a song in woman
And that is the child's song.  
When that song comes
There will be no words.  
Do not ask where they are.
Just listen to the song.
Listen to it-
Learn it-
It is the greatest song of all

Jewish Blessing

In every birth, blessed is the wonder.
In every creation, blessed is the new beginning.
In every child, blessed is life.
In every hope, blessed is the potential.
In every transition, blessed is the beginning.
In every existence, blessed are the possibilities.
In every love, blessed are the tears.
In every life, blessed is the love.  
There are three names by which a person is called:
One which her father and mother call her,
And one which people call her,  
And one which she earns for herself.
The best one of these is the one that she earns for herself.’

More Baby Blessing Readings, Baptism Readings, Christening Readings, Baby Shower Readings