I have been on a little bit of a reading binge. It has been great. I read a book titled, "Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus". It is a book about the jewishness of Jesus. There were several good insights in the book but none that has hit me like the Jewish prayers called "Berakhot". They are prayers of blessing that are said throughout the day to remind yourself of the gifts that God is giving you all the time. If you remember "Fiddler on the Roof" Tevia asks if there is a blessing for a sewing machine. The rabbi thinks and then says that there is a blessing for everything. That is the way of Berakhot. The traditional blessing over food is this, "Blessed art thou Lord God who brings forth food from the earth". The blessing over food is the one we have continued to use but it is only one of dozens. I have started to try to pray these prayers and it has brought joy and gratitude into my day. I will list out a few.
When you first wake up in the morning:
Blessed are you O Lord who gives sight to the blind for I have opened my eyes once again and I see.
As your feet hit the ground:
Blessed are you O Lord who makes the lame to walk.
When you put on your clothes:
Blessed are you O Lord who clothes the naked.
When putting on your shoes:
Blessed are you O Lord who provides for all my needs.
When you hear thunder or see lightening:
Blessed are you O Lord whose strength and power fill the world.
When you see a beautiful woman:
Blessed are you O Lord who fills the earth with such as these.
When something bad happens to you:
Blessed are you O Lord for you are the true judge.
There are dozens more. Indeed there are blessings for everything. I am learning to say a blessing as I step into the shower in the morning, sip my coffee, see my children, walk to get my paper. And what I have found is the more blessings I say the more blessed I am. Blessed be you O Lord who gives me blogs such as these.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Bless the Lord O My Soul
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
joe, may i tell of our free SPREAD THE WORD TALK WITH THE LORD program to inspire daily talks on life's real concerns. 3-6 rotating friend groups meet monthly our song lyrics sung free and our blog posts for sermon and discussion group themes g. hubbard p.o. box 2232 ponte vedra fl 32004 http://talkwiththelord.blogspot.com/
May I suggest reading Eric Metaxas book Bonhoeffer. You will be inspired.
I would really like to read the book on Bonhoeffer. Sounds incredible
Little Coffey elves here is a gift your parental figure would like to have under the tree :)
Very inspiring...
Now don't go buying the book or anything else you may have hinted about. It's December...
Joe for YEARS and still to this day when my kids leave I say to them "May the Lord Bless you and keep you and be gracious to you and make HIS face shine upon you" and then about a year ago my daughter, Carli said to me " that I should add on the end of that ALL FOR HIS GLORY" and so I have added that to my blessing over them!!! Sometime they say it with me they are so used to hearing it!!!
I'm a little behind on reading your blogs, but my mouth is on the floor right now. I, too, am reading this same book. For several months I have been "driven" to find out more about the Jewishness of Jesus. God could have made our Savior from any culture, but He chose Jew. If we, as Gentiles, were "grafted in", then there must be things we should, and need, to know. For instance, we Christians think when the benediction is given at the end of the service it's a que that church is over; not that the pastor is pronouncing a blessing over us. Since starting my studying, I have begun to reach out my hands, palms up, to "receive" that blessing. A rabbi recommended this book to me. A rabbi also said that the word "coincidence" does not exist in the Hebrew language for with God, there is no such thing. Wow! He continues to amaze me!
What a great resource!
Post a Comment