Joyce, and how long do blessings last?

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"The Blessing", 3:45 am, Celtic Woman, five years, how long do blessings last?, the weary heart, what gives life to a blessing?, when the storms of life are strong

Five years ago this morning, at 3:45 am, Joyce made the transition. The pain was finished, and she began to experience life as never before. She entered into what I can only imagine until I experience the same. At this point, I imagine the questions I would like to ask her then. When we are again together, perhaps those questions will no longer be of interest; only time will tell!

But now, at this point, I do have, among others, one question. The question is born out of something we shared. While terrestrially together and to the extent we could, we tried to be a blessing to each other. My impression is that she blessed me more than the other way around. Nonetheless, deep within our spirits, we wanted to be open channels of God’s blessing to each other.

And with that said, I come to my question, how long do blessings last? Sometimes at a gathering, I am asked before we begin to share a meal, “Vernon, could you give / say the blessing?” I am honored to be asked. Or perhaps, as happened this past Easter morning as we were concluding the worship service, I was asked to have the concluding blessing at our worship service. Again, I felt it was a privilege to be so asked. To conclude a wedding ceremony, to commence a trip of hundreds of miles that a friend or family member is about to take, to bless delegates who are about to separate for their return to ministerial or family duties, to commit a new venture to God’s oversight. These are just sample circumstances; you could add more, I am sure.

That brings me back to my question: how long do these blessings continue after the concluding “Amen.” I confess to having more ignorance than answers to that question. Of course, maybe there is no answer available to us. Nonetheless, there is solace is the sentiment expressed in the following piece of music “The Blessing”, as sung by the Celtic Woman. The lyrics involve two people whose spiritual and emotional nearness is endearing. They bless each other in times of weariness, in the morning, at night, during a myriad of activities, in disappointment that brings disenchantment and discouragement. They live in the giving and receiving of blessings.

I am beginning to think that the blessings are as alive as is the love that gave them birth. That being my thinking, it is good, very good, to know that Joyce is still very alive and very well, and I trust still loving me as much as before, and perhaps even more. Having her blessing is beyond price.

Here is “The Blessing” as available at YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hlsUyFDCP4) and at Grooveshark (http://grooveshark.com/s/The+Blessing/4Btrtn?src=5. And, along with the lyrics which follow, goes my hope that the beauty of the song will stir your soul as they have mind.

In the morning when you rise
I bless the sun, I bless the skies
I bless your lips, I bless your eyes
My blessing goes with you

In the night time when you sleep
Oh, I bless you while a watch I keep
As you lie in slumber deep
My blessing goes with you

This is my prayer for you
There for you, ever true
Each, every day for you
In everything you do

And when you come to me
And hold me close to you
I bless you
And you bless me too

When your weary heart is tired
If the world would leave you uninspired
When nothing more of love’s desire
My blessing goes with you

When the storms of life are strong
When you’re wounded, when you don’t belong
When you no longer hear my song
My blessing goes with you

This is my prayer for you
There for you, ever true
Each, every day for you
In everything you do

And when you come to me
And hold me close to you
I bless you
And you bless me too
I bless you
And you bless me too

 

COMMENTS ARE WELCOME

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Thoughts and Quotes from John Naisbitt’s MIND SETS, selected by David Mays

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basic self centeredness, being in a hedged lane, evaluating the current scene, if there is no joy, John Naisbitt, MIND SETS!, once the first step is made . . ., true? of interesting?, what is rewarded and what is punished, when the benefits are not transparent

Several months ago, a friend sent me a selection of very provocative thoughts and quotes, chosen from John Naisbitt’s Mind Sets, and gathered by David Mays.  I have, in turn, selected some of what I received.

You may find them provocative, supportive of some already held ideas, irritating, comforting, truncated, and perhaps puzzling in some cases.  I doubt that you will find them boring.  My including them is not to be interpreted as indicating my carte blanche agreement with the entire selection.  Take them as an opportunity to experience iron sharpening iron, ok?

According to Naisbitt:

• While many things change, most things remain constant.
• The future is imbedded in the present.
• It is powerful to not have to be right.
• Resistance to change falls if benefits are real.
• Look at what is rewarded and what is punished.
• Things that we expect to happen always happen more slowly.
• See the future as a picture puzzle.
• A proposition doesn’t have to be true; it just has to be interesting to be a good way to stimulate thought.

Quotes taken from Naisbitt:

• To appraise the viability of a society or a company, examine its ability to be self-correcting.  (94)
• “I match and measure information against my own experience, using my values and mindsets.  And so does everybody else.” (xvii)
• “Differentiate between basics and embellishment, rules and techniques, trends and fads, breakthroughs and refinements.” (10)
• “Basic change is the result of a confluence of forces, rarely because of just one force….” (17)
• “In business, politics, or private life, the gap between words and facts widen when personal pride is involved.  Often it’s not the promises made but the problems hidden.” (24)
• “It is in the nature of human beings to bend information in the direction of desired conclusions.” (31)
• “If you have to be right, you put yourself in a hedged lane, but once you experience the power of not having to be right, you will feel like you are walking across open fields, the perspective wide and your feet free to take any turn.” (39)
• “You don’t bend down unless something is worth picking up.”
• “Do not underestimate people.  When they resist change, change you think they ought to readily embrace, you have either failed to make benefits transparent or there are good reasons to resist.” (62)
• “Almost all change is evolutionary, not revolutionary.  Things just take time, almost always more time than we expect.” (76)
• “The economic borderlines of our world will not be drawn between countries, but around Economic Domains.” (157)
• “Economics will continue to overwhelm politics in the running of the global economy, and the impact of the global economy on our lives is far greater than the rhetoric of politics.” (180)
• “What scientists will not have is the key to our souls, our spiritual nature, which we will therefore cling to and obsess about.” (248)
• “changes made in the genetic codes that are passed on generation to generation will overwhelm the importance of all previous technologies.  But it will also include the danger of catapulting the human race into an undreamed future. . . . Once the first step is made, we will be on a path of no return.”  (248)
• “Whatever the future holds, it will be worth nothing if there is no joy.” (249)

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COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED

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