In today’s opening words, we learned about many ways to bless. It included things like returning an object to someone who lost it; glancing at a friend across the room; touching someone. But in this day and age of COVID, we only have our computers over a distance to bless someone, and that’s how we’ll do it today. Today we’ll learn what a blessing is, and what it’s not; how to bless, and who can bless. We’ll learn about the blesser – the person who gives the blessing and the blessee -the person who is blessed. In coffee hour, after the homily after the service, we’ll have a chance to practice blessing with one another.
This homily is based on the words of David Spangler. So what’s a blessing? A blessing is a special way of connecting. Spangler defines a blessing as “anything that enables us to experience to any degree, an unobstructed world”. And he says that’s a state where there are no barriers between my heart, and yours, my power and creativity and yours. And this state is at the heart of blessing. We blessed in a way that enables our openness to the world, to grow. Spirit is defined in the dictionary as “the vital animating life energy”. It comes from “spirar”, which means “to breathe”. Our breath circulates in blessing as though it was part of the universe. It circulates between us and the blessee, the blesser and the blessee. And it connects us with the whole world, the whole world with its own circulation of energy. Blessings are a flow of life force. They restore what is blocked or broken in another. Blessings allow us to give to each other. Our souls can read even over the internet. Blessings give us a sense of belonging and relatedness. Blessings can be a state of joy and harmony. And a blessee, the person being blessed, contributes to the blessing as well. They complete the circuit.
So we end up not being just the blessers ourselves but we are blessed, as well. It’s a fringe benefit in a blessing that we who give the blessing, are, in ourselves, blessed. A blessing allows me to become larger than myself. It’s when I’m in blessing, performing a blessing, that I connect to the whole cosmos. Ecclesiastes says “To everything there is a season”. And it’s always blessing season.
Spangler says there’s five important things about blessing.
First, it’s not a technique or a recipe to follow.
Second, everyone is unique and will bless in our own way. Even the circumstances in which we bless are unique. So we improvise, in each blessing. There is no one right way to bless.
Third, anyone can bless. Anyone can bless, it’s just not priests ministers and rabbis. It is a holy act and the holiness comes from the dynamic between the blesser, and the blessee.
Four: A blessing can look like anything. It can take a form, or none at all. What makes something a blessing is a wholeness of spirit we bring to them. And the resonance it creates, and the blesser and the blessee. It’s this resonance we’ll focus on today, we can bring that during COVID over a distance, or on our computers. If we love, we can bless.
Finally, blessings are not measured on a scale. There’s no particular outcome we’re looking for. A blessing can last a moment, or a lifetime.
Here’s some information on how to bless:
Remember – it’s not a technique, it’s just a generous heart and a loving mind. Blessing is easiest when it’s from a joyous heart. But we can do it, even when it’s all we want to do is strike out and curse. This demonstrates the power of a soul to choose what builds up life. Here’s a scenario on how to bless.
So the first thing to do is to get ready. Get comfortable. Go into your special place, your spiritual place perhaps – what we’ll call a blessing place. Access your spirit of life. Feel the energy.
Now, for the blessing. Open your eyes, if you want. Attune to the blessing. Blessing. Just be with them. You may want to connect with them in a certain way. Use your intuition. Maybe you’ll picture energy flowing from your spirit or out from your heart or your hands. The energy of blessing is expanding and surrounding the blesser. Just move your energy of your presence to the blessee. How long do you bless? Well, you’ll find it intuitively. It’s when your energy drains, or you feel restless.
Then it’s time to stop. How do you conclude the blessing? With a moment of silence. Give thanks and open your eyes if they’re not already open. Give your body a shake. Return to your regular world. And that’s it. We’ll try this in the blessing room.
So be it. blessed be. Amen.