The Teachings to Jesus in Luke: Blessing
He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” ~ Luke 14:12-14
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ~ Genesis 12:1-3
Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.” ~ The Count of Monte Cristo
The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God - if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That's what I think. ~ Maya Angelou
We tend to use the word blessing as a synonym meaning God's favor. And it usually plays out in the way we received blessings as bounty or gifts from God.
For those of us who have much, it may sometimes be difficult to see any but the obvious blessings of this kind. It might be much easier for someone with little or with nothing to be able grasp onto the simple, loving gifts from God.
And it can be hard to see those who are other from us as blessings to us.
It can be hard sometimes to see sitting down to dinner with a homeless person, or a refugee, or a prisoner, as a blessing.
If you are a Republican it may not seem a blessing to sit down to a meal with a Democrat.
If you are a supporter of the ACLU, you might balk at sitting down to dinner with a member to the NRA.
If you are a member of the white middle class, you may wonder how you would dine with a black youth wearing a hoodie and baggy pants.
It's hard to see sometimes how sitting down to a meal with someone who we don't see as being blessed themselves, can be a blessing to us.
But the definition of blessing is much more than favor or bounty.
It is sancitification.
It is being made holy.
We are made holy when we sit down with the other.
We are made holy when we seek to make the other holy.
We are made holy when we see beyond ourselves and see God's blessings not as gifts for us, but instead as gifts for a world in need, things to be shared: when we see that like Abraham, we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to the world.
Prayer: You have blessed me to be a blessing, Lord. Help me to see the blessings you have given me that come in the form of those I'd least expect. Amen
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ~ Genesis 12:1-3
Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.” ~ The Count of Monte Cristo
The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God - if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That's what I think. ~ Maya Angelou
We tend to use the word blessing as a synonym meaning God's favor. And it usually plays out in the way we received blessings as bounty or gifts from God.
For those of us who have much, it may sometimes be difficult to see any but the obvious blessings of this kind. It might be much easier for someone with little or with nothing to be able grasp onto the simple, loving gifts from God.
And it can be hard to see those who are other from us as blessings to us.
It can be hard sometimes to see sitting down to dinner with a homeless person, or a refugee, or a prisoner, as a blessing.
If you are a Republican it may not seem a blessing to sit down to a meal with a Democrat.
If you are a supporter of the ACLU, you might balk at sitting down to dinner with a member to the NRA.
If you are a member of the white middle class, you may wonder how you would dine with a black youth wearing a hoodie and baggy pants.
It's hard to see sometimes how sitting down to a meal with someone who we don't see as being blessed themselves, can be a blessing to us.
But the definition of blessing is much more than favor or bounty.
It is sancitification.
It is being made holy.
We are made holy when we sit down with the other.
We are made holy when we seek to make the other holy.
We are made holy when we see beyond ourselves and see God's blessings not as gifts for us, but instead as gifts for a world in need, things to be shared: when we see that like Abraham, we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to the world.
Prayer: You have blessed me to be a blessing, Lord. Help me to see the blessings you have given me that come in the form of those I'd least expect. Amen