Luke 6.17-26
What is blessing?
John O’Donohue, the Irish poet, teacher and philosopher says this: “A blessing invokes a privileged intimacy. It touches that tender membrane where the human heart cries out to its divine ground. In the ecstasy and loneliness of one’s life, there are certain times when blessing is nearer than any other person or thing. It evokes a sense of warmth and protection; it suggests that no life is alone or unreachable. Though suffering and chaos befall us, they can never quench that inner light of providence”
I believe that deep within each of us is the divine ember. It is at the very core of our being and cannot be extinguished by the corruption and chaos of the world. It is pure divine light. Regardless of our differences, we are all anchored by this inner divine flame. It is the ember of longing and belonging, of desperation and hope. It is fresh water in the parched land of our human experience. It is the ember of compassion and love. It is our original and eternal blessing of life. And we possess this blessing simply because we were born. It is the birthright of every single person.
How wonderful it would be if we could rediscover our power to bless one another – to offer our original and eternal blessing that flows from the heart of our being to the world. Because when a blessing is invoked, it changes things.
In 2013 I went with a group of others to Cuernavaca, Mexico for a Spanish language study. On one of our few days off we went into Mexico City to visit the cathedral. I was standing in front of the cathedral with Mary Glasspool – an Episcopal Bishop and Vincent Schwahn, who is an Episcopal Priest. They were wearing civilian clothes while I was in my habit. While standing there, a young woman came running up to us. She stood in front of me and while crossing herself, she said in Spanish: “Bendicion, Bendicion.” She was asking me to bless her. There was no way to explain to the young woman, who was presumably Catholic, that Mary was bishop. I tried to explain to her in Spanish that Vincent was the Padre – the priest. The woman’s response was, “ No padre. Monje, monje.” She was insisting on getting her blessing from the monk and not the priest. I looked at bishop Mary, and she said, “Give her a blessing.”
I learned that her name was Ana and I mustered-up my fumbling but sincere effort at Spanish and offered her a blessing: Que el amor de Dios te sane y guíe. Que la gracia de Dios esté en tu espíritu. Que la paz de Dios esté en tu corazón. May the love of God heal and guide you. May the grace of God be with your spirit. May the peace of God be in your heart. It wasn’t the official language of blessing in the church, but it was the language of the heart.
Ana’s cheeks were wet with tears. “Gracias, Hermano Monje. Gracias.” Thank you, brother monk. Thank you.
I’m not sure who was blessing who that day. But I learned that the blessing comes from the Spirit of God that lives within us. One does not need to be a bishop, or a priest, or a monk to offer a blessing. We only need to offer our hearts with love. The Apostle Paul encourages us all to “Go and bless the nations.” Jesus said: “Not only will you do the things I do, but you will do even greater things. And what could be greater than to offer the healing balm of blessing to those who are in need? To offer the blessing through which the vast interiority of God can unfold and pour itself into the world is to participate in the work of God.
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, he uses the language of blessed are those … and woe to those … On the surface it may sound a bit binary, like the good and the bad, the blessed and the unblessed. But that is not how I interpret the Kingdom of God. We all have the divine ember within us, even those who have views that are opposed to our own. And as Jesus said, even those who persecute us – even those whom we perceive as our enemies. There is no other. There is no “us” or “them,” there is only us and the bond that unites us, whether we realize it or not, is that divine ember – the original and eternal blessing of life.
The Sermon on the Plain as both hopeful and prophetic – hopeful in the assurance that we carry the flame of original and eternal blessing within us and it cannot be extinguished by the struggles and sorrows of our lives. It is prophetic in its warning because woe to those who stake their claim to happiness through wealth, the fat cats of the world, those who laugh and mock others, those who wield the heavy hand of oppression upon others, sow division instead of unity, and whose egos are swollen with pride. The prophetic warning is that for people such as these, one day things will turn around on them.
It is sad because it must be a terribly lonely existence to not awaken to the original and eternal blessing that, despite their unconsciousness, lives within them just like it does for all people. But they live in their own world of illusion. They are imprisoned by their own misguided power and self-serving ways. Woe to such people. Woe to those who cannot or will not embrace their own blessing. Woe to those who, although they hide behind a facade of false confidence and arrogance, they are, in truth, haunted, insecure, and lost. They are in dire need of the very thing that awaits rediscovery within themselves – the original and eternal blessing.
We need each other, maybe now more than ever. Our times are desperate for not just a renewed sense of unity and vision for well-being and protection of all people, but also for the freedom to flourish.
I pray that each of us here and around the world will know the blessing that lives within us. That we will claim the power to bless others with our presence, with our words, with our touch, and with our hearts. I pray for those with hardened hearts and those with broken hearts. I pray for those with darkened spirits and those with dampened spirits. Create in us a new heart Oh God and renew a right spirit within us. May we all know our original and eternal blessing and may we be that for others.
I offer you this blessing:
May you awake each day with the whisper of blessing in your heart.
May you find peace within your soul and harmony in the world.
May you look at yourself with kindness and know the eternal longing that God has for you.
May you be a blessing for the world.
Amen.
Brother Dennis