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Blessing


Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
 The name of the righteous is used in blessings, but the name of the wicked will rot. (Proverbs 10:6-7)

            As I look at these verses, I’m tempted to think they’re just another example of a teaching like karma. Good things happen to the good, bad things happen to the bad. As second simplistic look suggests that good people say nice things, and bad people say things that aren’t nice. I don’t want to put stuff in that’s not there, but the past couple days have me thinking that the simplistic reading is not all there is.
            In Gary Smalley’s The Blessing, he lists the following as components of blessing: a meaningful touch, a spoken message of love and acceptance, attaching “high value” to the person being blessed, picturing a special future for that person, an active commitment to fulfill the blessing.[1] These are characteristics of the interactions the righteous should have with others.
            It seems to me then, that a curse would involve a harmful touch, a spoken message of hate and rejection, attaching “low” or “no value” to the person being cursed, picturing a bad future for that person, and an active commitment to fulfilling the curse. These are characteristics of the violence that overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
            These aren’t complete pictures of the righteous person or the wicked person, of course, but I will boil them down to something quite simple. When one blesses, one wants what is best for the blessed. When one curses, one what’s what is not best for the blessed.             I have to say, I don’t think I’m good at blessing, but if Dr. Smalley was correct, each of the components is something we can learn. I think I’m going to work on valuing other people more highly.


[1] Smalley, Gary, The Blessing. (Thomas Nelson, 1986), p. 25.

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