“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:2-3
Can you imagine a world where we walked around consciously blessing one another and the world around us? Might this simple act deflate the tensions and anxiety that pervade our society. Could you imagine if we sought to find the holy chard (tikkun olam) that everyone and everything contained? or sought the holy fingerprint of the potter himself (Isaiah 64:8)?
What would it mean to begin to see the world as holy, to act as if it were, and to encourage it to be so? The act of blessings is an ancient practice that perhaps we should reinstitute. Doing so does not require an act of congress, nor a majority vote, it simply means that you and I make it so. Maybe, if we are lucky, the practice will grow.
Step one is simply to look with new eyes and see the beauty before us (Remember beauty is not always external; and beauty is not always what society names it to be.).
Step two is to name what you see or what you hope to see. If I were blessing my fireplace this morning, I might offer a blessing for the many days of warmth that it has brought to my house allowing me to be comfortable and to invite friends and family within. If I were blessing a person, I might offer a hope, “May this new year offer you opportunity and growth. May you find your footing, feel your strength, and be granted the courage to live fully into who you were meant to be.”
Step three is to share your blessing. You may say it quietly to God, say it aloud to the another person, or maybe take a moment to drop a note or a text to let them know that you are thinking about them. You might even post it on social media.
Blessings can also be done quietly within your heart as a prayer to God. I started to bless my feet in the morning after my mother passed away. She had thrown blood clots in her legs which subsequently caused an unhealing foot wound and caused the loss of several toes. My kids even were known to refer to her as Grandma Boo Boo Foot because, in their memory, she could never wear two shoes and usually need the assistance of a wheelchair. So now when my feet hit the floor I try to remember that even getting up in the morning and standing is not a blessing that everyone is afforded.
A Blessing for Feet
I wiggle them awake
and say, “Thank you!”
I touch them to the ground
and say, “Thank you!”
I press my weight upon them
and say, “Thank you!”
“Thank you little toes
and feet
and ankles.
Thank you phalanges
and metatarsals
and navicular bone.
Thank you to my muscles
and my tendons
and all the nerves
that go into each step I take.
Thank you God for my feet.
Bless them as they carry me through my day.
AMEN
NOTE: All rights are reserved for this blessing or anything published on this page. Permission is given for usage in religious or educational settings with citation.
If you would like to read some more blessings including two of my own, check out Ruth Burgess’ book from Wild Goose Publications, Blessed Be God:
Wandering and Wondering 