Merriam-Webster defines the word “bless” as to hallow or consecrate and this simply means to make holy; to invoke divine care, to confer prosperity or happiness upon; and to protect or preserve. Dallas Willard, in their article: The Right Way to Give Someone a Blessing in Christianity Today, explains that in blessing someone “You invoke God on their behalf to support the good that you will for them”*. In the Jewish tradition, Berakhah. … בְּרָכוֹת, berakhot, brokhoys is a “benediction,” “blessing,” “drawing down [of spiritual energy]”**. When we bless another, we invoke the divine in our desire for goodness to wrap itself around another. When we bless, we truly want good for the other. This is easy when we bless our loved ones and even strangers. It gets hard when we bring our enemies or people we don’t think much of into our sphere of blessing. It’s hard because they keep pushing our buttons. We are constantly asking: How can they think that? How could they do that? They anger us, hurt us, and we find ourselves in that angry, hurt place and its awful. What we’ve found out, though, is we can’t make change when we stay in that place. Change only happens when we get out of that place. Anger and hurt are important to acknowledge because without them we can never know that change is required. Anger and hurt are tricky, though. It is so easy to stay angry and hurt; but that is not their purpose. Their purpose is to inform us that change is required. You don’t have to stay there. But how do we make change when we’re in our angry and hurt feelings? Might I suggest blessing? Start with blessing yourself. If only for today, draw down that spiritual energy and confer or invoke divine care. Keep doing that until it overflows. Then let it overflow onto those you love. Let it surround and envelope them until it builds them up. Next, allow it to overflow again. Let it enfold the deli worker at your local supermarket, your child’s teacher, and anyone who may need it. Do you notice it keeps coming? In every major and minor religion or spiritual teaching, blessings keep coming as long as you ask or open yourself to them. See them experiencing what they most need or want. With every blessing, see yourself sharing the wealth. See it starting with you, overflowing and spreading out to all. Finally, when you’re ready, think of someone who really pushes your buttons. See them for the wounded, hurt, and angry person that they are. See them lashing out from this place and understand them. Then, when you’re ready allow your blessing to encompass them. You don’t need to know exactly what they most need or want. You just need to bless them. See them with eyes of love. Now this doesn’t mean you don’t act to end your hurt but from this blessing, I hope you act from love.
Namaste.
Further reading:
*https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/january-february/right-way-to-give-someone-blessing.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blessing
**https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barakah
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