Independence Day (United States)
Sunday
The only people who are equipped to communicate the inclusivity and the boundless abundance of God are people who first experience that boundless abundance in themselves.
—Richard Rohr
Monday
We often doubt, deny, and reject our own belovedness, finding it hard to believe what we did not choose, create, or earn for ourselves. Such unaccountable gratuity is precisely the meaning of grace.
—Richard Rohr
Tuesday
Peter had just opened the church to those it had previously shut out. He based what he said on the fresh revelation God had given him, and on his belief that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Not some, but all.
—Barbara Brown Taylor
Wednesday
We are not blessed to the exclusion of others; we are blessed to be a blessing to others, so that through us, others can be included in the generous circle of divine blessing.
—Brian McLaren
Thursday
We have no ability to affirm or to communicate to another person that they are good or special until we know it strongly ourselves. Only beloved people can pass on belovedness.
—Richard Rohr
Friday
We must begin to remove the blinders that restrict our vision, blinding us to the light of God shining through the face of all God’s people. We must come together as one, seeking to build a community of the faithful.
—Diana L. Hayes
Week Twenty-Six Practice
Blessing Others
Writing to a friend, the spiritual writer and Catholic priest Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) reflects on how we share our joy of being God’s beloved with others:
The characteristic of the blessed ones is that, wherever they go, they always speak words of blessing. It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to call forth their beauty and truth, when you yourself are in touch with your own blessedness. The blessed one always blesses. And people want to be blessed! This is so apparent wherever you go. No one is brought to life through curses, gossip, accusations, or blaming. There is so much of that taking place around us all the time. And it calls forth only darkness, destruction, and death. As the “blessed ones,” we can walk through this world and offer blessings. It doesn’t require much effort. It flows naturally from our hearts. When we hear within ourselves the voice calling us by name and blessing us, the darkness no longer distracts us. The voice that calls us the Beloved will give us words to bless others and reveal to them that they are no less blessed than we.
You live in New York. I live in Toronto. As you walk down Columbus Avenue and I down Yonge Street, we can have no illusions about the darkness. The loneliness, the homelessness, and the addictedness of people are all too visible. Yet all of these people yearn for a blessing. That blessing can be given only by those who have heard it themselves…. We are chosen and blessed. When we have truly owned this, have said “Yes” to it, then we can face our own and others’ brokenness with open eyes.
Reference:
Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992), 82–83.
Image credit and inspiration: Credits: Tony Sebastian, untitled (detail), 2019, photo, India, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Like a bouquet of many different kinds of flowers, we are all gently held as beautifully chosen and beloved.
