"How silent it is," he whispered. I started to shiver. The smoke from our stovepipe cast crazy shadows on the moonlit snow. "Come, let's go back in," he said softly. "Listen," I requested. The silence beat upon our empty ears. Not a sound. Nothing. My mind stretched into the
wilderness night, listening. It was different from the muffled silence of falling snow which sucks up every noise. Neither was it the silence of plugged ears. This was the clear, cold music of thousands of miles of nothing to hear. We lingered, breathing it in. "It's the silence of a million ears," I said at last. "Of life, waiting."
Bless a thing and it will bless you. . . . If you bless a situation, it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out if you sincerely bless it.
God's blessing be yours, And well may it befall you; Christ's blessing be yours And well be you entreated; Spirit's blessing be yours, And well spend you your lives, Each day that you rise up, Each night that you lie down.
~ Celtic Blessing from CARMENA GADELICA by Alexander Carmichael
The word blessing evokes a sense of warmth and protection; it suggests that no life is alone or unreachable. Each life is clothed in raiment of spirit that secretly links it to everything else. Though suffering and chaos befall us, they can never quench that inner light of providence. . . . A blessing is not a sentiment or a question; it is a gracious invocation where the human heart pleads with the divine heart. . . . When a blessing is invoked, it changes the atmosphere. Some of the plenitude flows into our hearts from the invisible neighborhood of loving kindness. In the light and reverence of blessing, a person or situation becomes illuminated in a completely new way. In a dead wall a new window opens, in dense darkness a path starts to glimmer, and into a broken heart healing falls like morning dew. It is ironic that so often we continue to live like paupers though our inheritance of spirit is so vast.
~ from TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEEN US by John O'Donohue
Blessing is an attitude toward all of life, transcending and moving beyond words. When family and friends gather around a table to break bread together, this is a blessing. When we harden our hearts against anyone, this is a cursing.
O God, creator of our land, . . . You have also pulled other continents out of the sea. What a wonderful world you have made out of wet mud, and what beautiful men and women! . . . The grace of your creation is like a cool day between rainy seasons. . . . Bless us. Bless our land and people. Bless our forests . . . Bless our fields . . . Bless the waters . . . Be with us in our countries and in all Africa, and in the whole world. Prepare us for the service that we should render.
May the sun bring you new energy every day. May the moon softly restore you by night. May the rain wash away your worries. May the breeze blow new strength into your being. May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.
Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence.
