A Blessing to you........

A Blessing to you........

At a recent Sunday evening Episcopal Church Service that caters to late churchgoers and those who may find a non-traditional Holy Eucharist service more appealing.  This worship often has text from the Taize format.  I read the following prayer during this service that I wish to share with you.

            The Blessing

May God Bless you with discomfort. Discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationship, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger?   Anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears.  Tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

May God bless you with foolishness.  Enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you do what others claim cannot be done. 

And the blessing of God, who creates, redeems and sanctifies, be upon you and all you love and pray for this day and forever more.  Amen.

I usually attend regular worship services Sunday morning that are rich in tradition and rich in message that serves to help me reflect on my week and what I have been doing.  The traditional service is comfortable and is about my Christian heritage, my youth, my life and the influences Christianity has had on me.  This worship has caused me to be thoughtful and reflective citizen and hopefully a servant to God and my fellow man.  As with others, this is a constant struggle to do both in today's harsh world.   This particular prayer during this evening service has brought me back once again to this personal struggle and made me more cognizant of the need to be more of a practicing Christian and not a modern day Pharisee…