May
God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at
injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for
justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who
suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out
your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless
you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this
world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
This is an old Franciscan blessing that I've heard a few times. And it challenges me every time I hear it.
It speaks to a life that is not what we would consider comfortable. And that kind of a life is being called a blessing.
But it really is a life that is better than one where we seek our own comfort at all costs. It's a life that is full because it's a life where we are real.
Who doesn't want to live from deep within their heart? But do we want what we need to get to that point? Do we really want to experience discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships?
I think deep down inside we get frustrated with easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships. We really would rather have the full truth even if that means the answer is hard to take. And we would rather have real relationships than superficial ones.
Who doesn't want to see a world of peace, justice, and freedom for all? But do we want to have to learn to deal with anger at oppression and injustice?
We have to get to the point where we are willing to do the work to fight oppression and injustice. We have to be willing to channel our anger about it into working to change things.
Who doesn't want to see a world without pain, rejection, starvation, and war? But do we want our hearts to really be broken over people who are experiencing these things?
We like to keep ourselves at a distance from those things. We don't want to experience them if we don't have to. But, we have to allow our hearts to be broken over them to be able to bring comfort to people experiencing pain, rejection, starvation, and war.
Who doesn't want to do what others say cannot be done? To make a difference in the world?
Others may look at us as foolish as we step out to do what we feel we need to do. But, God calls us to make a difference and to do what He calls us to do. To defy what others tell us can be done because we're doing it with God.
This Franciscan blessing doesn't speak of an easy or comfortable life, but when I dig into it, I find it speaks of the kind of life I want to live.
What about you?
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
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