Blessings

I love this photo, it’s going to be a personal favorite.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace

Every Sunday, one of my favorite moments is the blessing or benediction as the Worship Gathering in a sense ends (to me it’s more of transitions us back to our worlds). I find the traditional blessing from Numbers 6:24-26 to be increasingly meaningful and to me its never a ritualistic practice devoid of meaning. To be honest, I truly believe in the one who blesses us. And indeed We’re full of gratitute how’s our life journey thus far. There have been struggles and it’s still there, we have our own share of failures, pains and disappointments. But somehow, the light always pierces the darkness in some way. And we’re always surprised again and again how things will turn out.

I know there are other more “contextualized” blessings. One of my favorites is the Old Irish Blessing … I learnt a song based on it in Germany last year. Of course, it carried much meaning as many of us who gathered at the summer school would find it rare to meet again on this side of heaven. But I think, it’s also still relevant for our short “separations” from each other. I think of Seng Joo who will be leaving our BLC community and Malaysia for Australia in a weeks time. I think of Dr. Stan Grenz who’s returned to the Lord. I think of every person I meet whether weekly for corporate worship or LiFe Groups, or I think of old friends as well as new ones. Godsons, godaughters, family …. Truly, God hold us in the palm of His hand. And before I sleep, we hear this Irish blessing.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.