Ana McDonald, St. Francis by the Lake, Canyon Lake TX

Walking around the block, I pass my long-time neighbor, a kind, cheerful, musical man. How’re ya doing? I call.

Oooh, fat and not too sassy. His music today is resigned, a bit mournful.

I share the first and hope you’re sassy again soon, I call—I bless—as I walk on.

Perhaps you, as I once did, think of blessing as something the priest does. Maybe something you can do, so long as you include God or Jesus among your words. Or maybe you recite my favorite prayer from Numbers 6: “May the Lord bless you and keep you,…” acknowledging that it is, ultimately, God from whom all blessings come. This is true. All blessings do come from God. But we are God’s instruments, not just in our actions as lay chaplains, but also in the random words we throw into the void.

We bless someone every day. For blessing is “a gift from God, that which gives temporal or spiritual benefit.”* It has meant this since the mid-14th century. Unaware, we scatter blessings—good feelings—wherever we go.

Have a nice day.

Feel better.

Safe travels.

These are blessings. So are random comments that brighten another’s day.

I like your hair.

I hadn’t thought of that.

Thank you so much!

Even something so simple as a child’s bedtime rhyme is a blessing.

Night Night, sleep tight,
Don’t let the bedbugs bite
But if they do, hit ‘em with a shoe
And say I don’t wanna sleep with you!

Blessings are everywhere around us, endowed by the power of God to make someone’s life a little bit better. In expressing appreciation or hope, in sharing the joy or pain of others, in momentary connections and kindly rituals, we bless those around us. So too, we receive blessings unaware. It needn’t be a big thing, nor even a conscious thing. Like the air we breathe, God is all around us, within us, and we are blessing as we are blessed.

And so, my friends, I hope that you are feeling sassy. If not now, then soon.

Amen.

EtymOnline. “Blessing.”