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“The Practice of Pronouncing Blessings”
August 25, 2024
Psalm 103:1-18; Numbers 6:24-26
Numbers 6:24-26
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
This blessing from Numbers 6:24-26 is very familiar to me, and maybe to you, too. These simple words carry a lot of memories. The Lord Bless You and Keep You. These were the words we ended every youth group gathering with when I was in high school. And these were also the words that I scribbled onto a piece of poster paper when I prepared to lead my first youth gathering here at Cobleskill UMC. Just as I had done in my own youth group, we all held hands in a circle, with our right hand crossed over our left hand. Looking at one another we would say this blessing, something like a benediction for our time together. And then with an awkward little twist we’d contort our bodies to untangle our hands and magically our bodies would be facing outward.
It was important to me to end each youth gathering with a blessing of one another. The blessing makes everything else gel: the uncontrollable laughter, the crazy games of sardines, the serious and competitive four-square playing, the meals shared and stories told. Looking at one another in the eyes after our time together gave us an opportunity to name out loud what otherwise might have gone unsaid. That we cared about each other and, even more so, that we recognized that God cared about us, too.
This is a blessing. A declaration of value. And not just any value, but value in the eyes of God.
Some other types of blessings come like second nature to us, like this has with the youth group. We bless our food before we eat it. We bless someone after they sneeze. We bless the hearts of those who are in hardship (and depending on the tone it can either be sincere or ironic). Bless his heart.
But other blessings that are not routine or habitual, like a response to a sneeze or a quick prayer before a meal, are harder to do. For one thing, we tend to think blessing things is something pastors do. I can safely say this because for most of my life I wasn’t a pastor and thought just as much. Pastors are the ones who give benedictions at church, bless couples at weddings, bless new homes, little babies, pets, school teachers and backpacks and sometimes even football games depending on where you live in the country. When most people are asked to bless something, they will usually defer to the pastor in the room or someone else. Partly because we as a society think of blessings as formal things. We think we have to somehow be qualified. We think we have to be good at words. And also, we’re really only used to formal blessings at special occasions and in church. What if saying a blessing didn’t have to be so hard to do. Maybe our world really needs people who are willing to declare that ordinary things in our lives are valuable, to us and to God.
What I learned as youth and what I hope our youth are still learning as we say these words, is that even as a teenager I could pronounce a blessing on the other teenagers who stood in a circle with me. I had that power. God had given it to me. To give a blessing means to stop the normal flow of life and call attention to the value God sees in what is happening.
So today I want to help us practice and understand it a little bit better. Here we are on the last Sunday of the summer. Our last Sunday outside under this magnificent tree. The last Sunday in August. So, it seems like the perfect time to practice saying a blessing. A benediction for this season that’s ending. And I’d like you to help me.
In her book, An Altar in the World, the author Barbara Brown Taylor, says the first step to pronouncing a blessing is to pay attention. To notice what is around you. To pay attention to the gifts it’s giving you. And since we’re here under this tree right now, let’s start there. We could notice it’s many branches. The low ones that defy gravity. The high ones that create a canopy. The beans that are forming as the tree starts to think about sharing seeds. The leaves that look so soft to touch. Just this summer I saw someone approach the low hanging leaves and touch them against their face. It was kind of like a blessing this person was giving back to the tree to say, I see you and I appreciate you.
The beautiful thing about paying attention to something is that when we do, a door opens to other feelings. Wonder. Gratitude. Grief. Curiosity. And we realize that the power of blessing something begins by understanding how we’ve first been blessed.
In just a moment I’m going to read our second Scripture reading, but before I do, I want to share that Jewish prayers of blessing always begin with a blessing of God and a recognition that blessings have come from God. Listen now to one of these prayers, found in Psalm 103. Listen for how the act of noticing and paying attention opens doorways to other emotions.
Psalm 103
Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness
Of David.Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger for ever.He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.
As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field;for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
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Our lives are short. The seasons pass by in the blink of an eye. And yet God has given us the gift, just like this psalmist, to notice that God’s goodness is ever present. Woven into the very lives we live. The good days and the bad. Can we not then pause in our days to bless the places where we see God shining through, sometimes stubbornly? Even if it’s under our breath, or by letting the leaves of a precious tree touch our face?
I’ll name a few from this summer. And then maybe some blessings will come to your mind, too. If you’d like to share them you’re welcome to.
A blessing for the tomatoes that were delicious and a blessing for the tomatoes that also fed the deer.
A blessing for the days this summer that felt like they should have been restful but they weren’t.
A blessing for the days that needed to be restful and they were restful and you’re grateful.
A blessing for the days when it rained and you hoped it would be sunny.
A blessing for the days when it was sunny and that was exactly what you wanted.
A blessing for the rain that sometimes came too much all at once.
A blessing for those struggling through the damage of tornadoes and floods from storms that are getting bigger and bigger.
A blessing for us as we try new things to help the earth heal so that the storms aren’t so big, like composting at the church.
A blessing for the children ate at our church this summer.
A blessing for the community who came together to serve meals.
What would you add?
We need to be able to say blessings. The world needs people who can see what God sees and say it out loud. To say, “It may not be perfect, but it was enough.” Or it was a small thing, but it was a good thing. Or to say, that happened and we can do better. When we acknowledge what has come and gone with gratitude, acceptance and blessing, we can move forward into what comes next.
A Blessing if you Happen to be Having an Ordinary Day, by Kate Bowler
Lord, here I am.
How strange it is, that some days feel like hurricanesand others like glassy seasand others like nothing much at all.
Today is a cosmic shrug.
My day planner says,rather conveniently,that I will not need you,cry for you, reach for you.
Ordinarily, I might not think of you at all.
Except, if you don’t mind,let me notice you.
Show up in the small necessities and everyday graces.
Be the coffee cup in my handsand the reason to calm down in traffic.
Be the gentler tone in my insistence todaythat people pick up after themselves for once.
Be the reason I feel lovedwhen I catch my own reflectionor feel my own self-loathingfluttering in my stomach.
Calm my mind,lift my spirit,make this dumb, ordinary daymy prayer of thanks.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Anna
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