The Power of Blessing

I conducted my son’s wedding this weekend and it was a rite of passage for both of us. It was also full of surprises. WE don’t use the word often, but “serendipity” is the best word to describe what I experienced. A serendipity is an unexpected blessing.  We often think of it as something we experience, but I want to think with you about the experience you GIVE.

We had a “tie” crisis on Saturday morning.  Even I have a hard time remembering how to tie a tie because I do it so rarely, and never in a hurry.  But I had a set of groomsmen who were dealing with particularly difficult ties (think an inch thick and wanting it to look neat).  So, I found myself staring at a set of taller Adam’s apples, silk in my hands, and someone absolutely still and within intimate conversation range.

As I was wrestling those ties, I realized that each of these young men were early on in adulthood, testing their mettle in new jobs, new challenges.  And I simply took a few minutes to talk to them about their impact and significance to that circle who were gathered that day.  We men often overlook those opportunities, and we don’t realize the power of our words, so we don’t use them.  But on this day, I realized the opportunity and just tried to pour into them the grace, thanks, encouragement they would need for the coming challenges.  

Later, each of those guys were connecting with me differently and I had a conscious thought:  “blessing is powerful stuff.”  

Sometimes your friends need their friends to stop the plates that are spinning and give blessing.  Sons and daughters need their parents (even in adulthood) to remind them that they were gifts, not burdens.  Employees need their bosses to notice and do more than slip a little more pay in their direction–they need to be affirmed and encouraged, even when they mess up.

Oh friends–blessing IS powerful stuff, and each of you who are Temples of the Holy Spirit have a gift to bestow because you are secure in Christ.  Let that flow to the men and women around you.  It won’t cost you, but it will embolden those to whom you give it.

A certain Jewish carpenter from Nazareth gave it to a ragamuffin gang of fishermen, zealots, and tax collectors. . . and He changed the world through them.  Maybe we can affect a few families with the grace of our blessing!