Blessings as Encouragement

An old man lies on his deathbed watching for his son to return from the fields so that he can lay hands on him before he dies. The old man will linger as long as necessary for this one final and very important task.

Passing the blessing. A powerful ritual in the bygone days and not practiced as often now in our fast paced society.

To be blessed means to be "favored by God".  Wikipedia says "a blessing is the infusion of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, divine will or one's hope or approval."

Blessings are a part of most major religions and are believed to have great power for those who are blessed.

We all know what a curse does. A curse sets the course of one's life in a tail spin. A curse not only haunts the person who has experienced it, but often the words have become quite powerful. When something goes wrong with one's life they feel that they are "under a curse".

As children, we natural seek the blessings of our parents. Are we doing this right? Do we make you proud? Are you glad that I'm your son/daughter?

I was given a book of blessings for my children many years ago by a friend. It's called, The Power of Blessing your Children, by Mary Ruth Swope. I used to read the blessings over my children at night when they were ready to go to sleep. Now that they are older, they stand there and roll their eyes at me. But someday they will remember!

"You are the head and not the tail. You are favored by all who look upon you. I bless you with rich peace and may you be stable and happy all of your days".

"I bless you with the greatest riches of love. May you be successful in all you do. May you always know great grace."

You get the picture. We can customize our blessings to the lives of our children. It's not magic... but it is positive encouragement. Besides we don't know the power of our words..... they could be more "magical" than we realize.

So make blessings part of your daily ritual. Bless your families. Bless your neighbors. Bless your co-workers. Bless yourself while you are at it! Bless your body. Bless your food. Bless your pets. Bless your house. Bless. bless..... bless.... Bless your heart - it's good for the soul!