A Blessing for Everything!

Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits... Psalm 103:1

A Blessing for Everything!
By Rev. William Dohle

It's so cute.  My 2 year old son, Nicholas, has just started talking in words that we can understand.  For weeks now he's been talking in incoherent sentences, stringing along phrases and groans and grunts that we just don't understand.  But just this week he said his first "word" that we can understand.  And that word is...

Amen!

That's right!  It sounds kinda silly(and even stereotypically pastorly) that he would say that, but he does.  In fact, he folds his hands in front of him and says, "Amen."

I think he got it, not from church, but from our table prayer.  Every evening, before we eat at home, we say a table prayer and at the end we always say...

Amen!

Our 2 year old has picked up on the fact that "Amen" means "Let's eat!"  In fact, he's been known to say "Amen, amen, amen!" when he wants more food!

So I don't know if this is a story of success or failure?  Amen means more food??

It brings to mind, though, the times when we do say blessings over things.  I was raised to say "grace" over our meals every time we eat at home(outside of home we skip grace... go figure!).  I have, in the past, prayed with my children right before they go to sleep at night.  Or when our beloved fish died.

But that's about it.  Besides church and my spontaneous prayer that seeps through my day, we don't really bless God all that much.

Not like others do.  Not like Moses did.  Moses and the people whenever they would set out from a place would pray:

Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and your foes flee before you. (Num. 10:35)

And when they would rest he would say:

Return, O LORD, of the ten thousand thousands of Israel. (Num. 10:36)

This pattern, of blessing both the rising and return, is found in both Judaism and Christianity.  In Judaism there is literally a blessing for everything.  In the Talmud, it is written:

"Abayei said, when one comes out of a privy he should say: Blessed is He who has formed man in wisdom and created in him many orifices and many cavities. It is obvious and known before Your throne of glory that if one of them were to be ruptured or one of them blocked, it would be impossible for a man to survive and stand before You. Blessed are You that heals all flesh and does wonders."

In Christianity, this same pattern applies, only here it becomes prayers for every occasion.  There are prayers, for instance, that are recited upon waking up in the morning, at noontime, at evening, and right before you go to bed.  There are prayers for when you leave and when you arrive, when a new birth happens and a death occurs.  There are prayers for every occasion you can think of.

For instance, at the start of a journey we could pray...

In my journeying with you,
may I never lose my sense of direction,
never lose sight of the landmark
towards which I travel.
And should cloud or rain obscure my vision,
may I draw closer to you,
so that my feet may tread
in your footsteps,
your words be my encouragement,
and your love my protection
against the storms that assail me.

What if we took this tradition to heart and actually "blessed" our day this way?  Asking God's blessing upon the details of our lives brings God to life in those details.  It makes him real.  Instead of God being secluded to one particular day of the week or place or time, God becomes real throughout the day.  Even our time in the restroom can be considered holy when we are brought into God's presence.  Our little "Amens" can be raised anytime, even if we're not eating or worshiping.  For everything in life is a blessing from God!

Blessed are you, Lord God, King of the Universe, for you have given us so many things to sing your praises for.  Give us a spirit of gratefulness that we may give thanks for everything you have given.  Amen!