Day 15 of Lent: You are Blessed to be a Blessing

You are blessed!  You are blessed because God is constantly present in your life, giving  you guidance, insight, and energy.  God gives you freedom and beauty where you might otherwise imagine a dead end.  Our spiritual practices awaken us to the dynamic flow of divine love and guidance in our lives and in the world so much that in each moment of life, we can catch a glimpse of God's vision for our lives today and the the planet in the years to come.

God's blessings are unique for each individual.  God knows what each of us need in life and provides what we need, not necessarily what we want.  Our lives are ordered by God as we seek to be drawn closer to God daily.

Even as God promised Abraham that he would be the Father of a great nation and that nation would be blessed so that they may be a blessing to other nations, our lives are used by God so that others may be blessed.  To be blessed is to experience the great joy of God's presence in our lives and to know the gift of a larger vision of what we may be like when we attempt to live out God's love in our lives as we are with others.

Being blessed is described in the message of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  Jesus says that those who mourn, those who seek God's Kingdom, those who struggle for peace, those who work for justice for others, those who seek God's righteousness are blessed persons.  In Luke's Gospel, Jesus' list of attributes includes the poor and those who mourn in reality and not in a spiritual sense.  God has a preferential option for the poor expressed throughout the New Testament and including the family of Jesus who were not rich.

As we awaken to God's blessings in our lives, we can affirm with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:
Just to be a blessing.
Just to live is holy.

Affirm for yourself:
God blesses me so that I can be a blessing.
I bless each person I meet.
I bless individuals in my life.

Prayer:
O Holy One, remind us that you are with us in each struggle in life.  Remind us that our pain if your pain, and our celebration is your celebration.  Your healing touch rests upon us, O God, to transform us to be blessings for others.  Amen.