Blessing:
God’s favor and protection
– may God continue to give us his blessing
A prayer asking for such favor and protection
– a priest gave a blessing as the ship was launched
Grace said before or after a meal
A beneficial thing for which one is grateful; something that brings well-being
– great intelligence can be a curse as well as a blessing
– it’s a blessing we’re alive
A person’s sanction or support
If anyone were to overhear what goes on in my brain on a daily basis, she might think I either sound like a broken record or someone who has lost her senses. The mere thought of this makes me giggle because; Oh, the things I hear and do and say in my brain!
I suspect that as a child, someone I revered must have told me to be conscious of other people at all times. I can remember being in church watching all of the people file through the aisles on the way to communion. It was a game for me to try to Bless each and every person that walked by without missing a single soul. The times I was able to keep up and master this, I left with a huge sense of joy at my accomplishment and an even bigger sense of wonder about what goodness might be waiting for that person in the future.
These days Charlie laughs at me when sometimes in the middle of watching a television show or attending a lecture where someone has shared a poignant real-life story, I’ll raise my hands towards them in silence. My heart is always saying, “God Bless you on your journey, thank you for sharing”. Having now lived with me as long as he has, he doesn’t ask me what I’m doing. He knows. I’ve even taught him to Bless our vegetable and herb plants to thank them before we cut them for use in a meal.
I wonder what the world might be like if we spent most of our days conscious of the fact that we’re all on a journey, trying our best to get through the challenges life presents to us? I wonder what might happen if we were actually spending our time Blessing one another, over spending our time being oblivious to one another? I see people every single day driving in the car–one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the smartphone, scrolling or talking. What if we put those phones down and instead spent our time in the car, communing with God, just praying for the strangers we pass on the road?
Years ago someone anonymously sent the following article to my email box and I saved it because it speaks volumes. It speaks to what goes on in my head and heart every moment of every day. We ask one another for prayers, but how many Blessings are we bestowing?
The Gentle Art of Blessing
By: Pierre Pradervand
As you walk, bless the city in which you live, its government and teachers, its nurses and street sweepers, its children and bankers, its priests and prostitutes. The minute anyone expresses the least aggression or unkindness to you, respond with a blessing: bless them totally, sincerely, joyfully, for such blessings are a shield which protects them from the ignorance of their misdeed, and deflects the arrow that was aimed at you.
To bless means to wish, unconditionally, total, unrestricted good for others and events from the deepest wellspring in the innermost chamber of your heart: it means to hallow, to hold in reverence, to behold with utter awe that which is always a gift from the Creator. He who is hallowed by your blessing is set aside, consecrated, holy, whole. To bless is yet to invoke divine care upon, to think or speak gratefully for, to confer happiness upon – although we ourselves are never the bestow-er, but simply the joyful witnesses of Life’s abundance.
To bless all without discrimination of any sort is the ultimate form of giving, because those you bless will never know from whence came the sudden ray of sun that burst through the clouds of their skies, and you will rarely be a witness to the sunlight in their lives.
When something goes completely askew in your day, some unexpected event knocks down your plans and you too also, burst into blessing: for life is teaching you a lesson, and the very event you believe to be unwanted, you yourself called forth, so as to learn the lesson you might balk against were you not to bless it. Trials are blessings in disguise, and hosts of angels follow in their path.
To bless is to acknowledge the omnipresent, universal beauty hidden to material eyes; it is to activate that law of attraction which, from the furthest reaches of the universe, will bring into your life exactly what you need to experience and enjoy.
When you pass a prison, mentally bless its inmates in their innocence and freedom, their gentleness, pure essence and unconditional forgiveness; for one can only be prisoner of one’s self-image, and a free man can walk unshackled in the courtyard of a jail, just as citizens of countries where freedom reigns can be prisoners when fear lurks in their thoughts.
When you pass a hospital, bless its patients in their present wholeness, for even in their suffering, this wholeness awaits in them to be discovered. When your eyes behold a man in tears, or seemingly broken by life, bless him in his vitality and joy: for the material senses present but the inverted image of the ultimate splendor and perfection which only the inner eye beholds.
It is impossible to bless and to judge at the same time. So hold constantly as a deep, hallowed, intoned thought that desire to bless, for truly then shall you become a peacemaker, and one day you shall, everywhere, behold the very face of God.
From The Angels:
Divine Guidance: Trust and follow your intuition. It is God and the angels speaking to you.
You are being Divinely guided right now. The gut feelings you have, the knowingness, the visions, or the inner voice are all trying to tell you something, and it is very important that you trust and follow this guidance.
If you drew more than one card, pay close attention to the cards that are on either side of the “Divine Guidance” card-they contain important instructions for you. These nearby cards feature facets of the message that the angels seek to impress upon you.
Answered Prayer: Fear not, beloved one! Your prayers have been heard and answered.
All of your prayers are always answered. Sometimes you may not feel this way, because the answer comes in unexpected ways. Perhaps you receive an intuitive feeling or a new opportunity appears-or a book falls off the shelf. The angels answer our prayers very often by giving us ideas or information in these everyday ways.
By drawing this card, the angels request that you be extra observant. Notice everything that you hear, say, think, and feel. Be especially alert to help that comes to you, and be sure to accept that help. You do deserve this assistance, and many times God enlists people to act as Earth angels who bring you answers to your prayers.
Archangel Michael:“I am with you, giving you the courage to make life changes that will help you work on your Divine life purpose.”
Additional Message: “I have come to you because you asked God for safety and protection, and because you asked about your life purpose. Since you are a light-worker, I am overseeing the fruition of your Divine life purpose. You have been a light-worker for a long time, and you have felt different from others, isolated at times. Be assured that you have never been alone, and that you never will be alone.”
“When you feel pushed to make a change at work or at home, that may be my influence, encouraging you to make your life’s purpose a high priority. I can rearrange your schedule and support you in other ways to make your path smooth and harmonious. Simply ask me, and it is done. I will also help you feel safe and comfortable during your life’s changes.”
Today’s Prayers:
May the Warm Winds of Heaven
Blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit
Bless all who enter there.
May your Moccasins
Make happy tracks
in many snows,
and may the Rainbow
Always touch your shoulder.
~Cherokee Blessing
Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.
~Pueblo Blessing
The great blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach; but we shut our eyes, and, like people in the dark, we fall foul upon the very thing we search for, without finding it. ~Seneca Blessing
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
— 1 Peter 1:8-9 (NIV)
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