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At the end of each worship service, Pr. Sean leaves us with a blessing, an orientation for going out into the world with a new heart. What we often don’t claim for ourselves is the spiritual practice of us too being able to bless. We can bless God. Psalm 103 begins, “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless His Holy Name.” Maybe you can sense how it feels like both a blessing given and received.

We can bless the day: “This is a day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  What if you started your day with this view, this blessing?

We can bless the earth for how it sustains us, inspires us and holds us. Bless the earth for life-giving waters. Or maybe you just walk out your door, pause and bless the mountains for their beauty or the air for being fresh.

We can bless each other (even more than when we sneeze!) Maybe we bless them with kind words or listening or presence. But it’s being aware that you are imparting a gift of blessing even if you don’t say the words, but give a blessing from soul to soul.

Bless our food, not in a rote way, but with a deep awareness of all that occurred for that food to be on your plate or in your hand. Pause. Bless the food by taking time to enjoy it.

And the hardest of all: Bless ourselves just as we are. It’s not selfish to love ourselves, our souls. We are what God loves dearly. We can bless that sincerely. Put your hand on your heart and bless yourself.

We can bless anything! Even our enemies, says Jesus. Blessings heal and inspire and take us within to our soul’s deep compassion.

Have a blessing kind of week! Did you feel a shift in your soul?

 

Pastor Marcia Wakeland is a retired ELCA pastor, a spiritual director and a listening advocate. She is interested in the actual experience of having faith and how that is lived out. She can be reached at mwakeland@gmail.com for comments or more questions Her ongoing blog of living out spiritual practices is listeninglife.live.