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A Blessing


            The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  (Genesis 12:1-3)
           These verses, and the verse in Hebrews 12 that refer back to this, have been key verses for me over the past five years. When I quit my job and left Erie for the first winter in 2015, these verses were God’s promise that He would lead the way. Quite honestly, I didn’t care about being made into a great nation, or about having my name made great. When I began this journey, the key in this passage was “Go from your country…to the land I will show you.” My goal was to be a blessing to my father. No more, no less, no other. And the verses were appropriate for my departure from the north and arrival in the south.
          Yesterday’s passage and comments suggest that what was true for Abram and for me in a physical sense five years ago is true for each of us each year, each day, and each minute. As C. S. Lewis pointed out, we are constantly moving, either toward Christ or away from Him; becoming more like Him, or less like Him, It’s not about leaving Ur and going to the land of the Canaanites. It’s about leaving the world and going to the Promised Land, even if our bodies remain in the physical realm.
          I won’t say that I haven’t been blessed or been a blessing. I don’t think that’s true even if I sometimes feel as if it is. But being blessed and being a blessing are the focus for 2020. In Gary Smalley and John Trent’s book, The Blessing, they listed the following elements of a blessing:
1.                 meaningful touch
2.                 a spoken message of love and acceptance
3.                 attaching “high value” to the person being blessed
4.                 picturing a special future for that person
5.                 an active commitment to fulfill the blessing
          Given my tendency toward seeing things in larger-than-life terms, this list is a joke. I don’t touch people. I’m not big on sentimentality, so making people feel loved, accepted, and valued is almost as ludicrous as touching. And picturing a special future – how do I even begin to pretend that they are the “Chosen One” when Jesus has that role?  They point, of course, is that this isn’t about being larger than life. In fact, it might be about being tiny at least until I get a better sense of perspective. A “Hello” is a message of love and acceptance. “Have a nice day,” pictures a special future. There are lots of ways to commit to fulfill the blessing without – say – spending more than a hundred dollars and half the day working on it.

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