Blessings

Blessings come in many forms. We use this form of prayer in a variety of ways.

I had a friend bless me the other day. She prayerfully raised her hand. Said my name. Acknowledged gifts God had given me. Thanked me for giving them to her and to others. Then reminded me who I was – a beloved child of God. A moment of peace, holy ground between us and love.  God’s presence was very strong in that room and in our hearts.

Blessings – we may use this word all the time. 

• “God bless you,” we respond when someone sneezes.
• “Bless your journey,” – we might say as someone leaves our presence.
• Blessings – a single word we could use to close our note or blog post comment.
• We may even pray using the word “blessings,” even with a little sarcasm.  “Lord, give me patience to endure these blessings.”

What is a Blessing?

A blessing is a special prayer given from one person to another, as in sincerely wishing the best for somebody.  Another way of defining blessing is an unexpected, perhaps undeserved gift.  Or to give someone your blessing is to give them your permission, an approval to go ahead with their plan, such as when a young man asks his girlfriend’s parents if he can marry their daughter. Blessing can be the words we say before a meal to express our thanks for the food before us.

Blessings give hope, encouragement, good will, thankfulness, and strength.

The word blessing in Latin come from benedicere, which means to speak well of. 

In Hebrew, blessings mean the idea of being strengthened by God’s strength with its root word meaning “to kneel, praise and salute.”

 In the Jewish Talmud, the instructions are to recite 100 blessings throughout the day. Isn’t that a wonderful practice – seeking and thanking for the blessings in our daily life.

Barbara Brown Taylor has a great chapter about blessings in her book Altar in the World where she writes, “In Hebrew a blessing prayer is a brakha…there are prayers to be said upon waking up in the morning, before setting out on a journey, at seeing a comet and when wearing new clothes. There are prayers for pastries, fruit, vegetables, and wine. ..These blessings happen in church all the time We bless bread, wine, water, oil, babies, couples, teachers, teenagers, elders, the sick and the dearly departed.”  It is a delightful chapter to read about blessings.

Taylor also writes, “The most ordinary things are drenched in divine possibility. Pronouncing blessings upon them is the least we can do.”

To bless and be a blessing is to pay attention to the holiness around and within all of us and be grateful. We then find the words to describe the gift from God we discover right before us in nature, in a circumstance, in a daily ordinary moment, in the eyes of another person, acknowledging that sparkle of God’s reflection mirrored there and bow in thankfulness, knowing who God is and that we are all beloved children of God. Thanks be to God.

What does the word blessing mean to you? How do you use this practice?