"The Lord Bless You and Keep You,
The Lord Make His Face to Shine Upon You and Be Gracious to You,
The Lord Lift Up His Countenance Upon You and Give You Peace."
I love benedictions. When I was a kid, they meant only one thing: Church is over. In modern church, the benediction is either forgotten altogether or it is a ceremonial act that has no significance other than that's how it's been done for centuries.
I have a lot to think about. Jim Swilley's message Sunday needs my attention. I feel welling up inside me a desire to go back a few years and just be me. Not gay me, or me living a lie, or me trying to be something I'm not. Just me. Translation: I'm about done with this gay crap altogether. I feel that coming on. I'm not sure I like it or if it's the right thing for me. I need time to process and think. And I'm way busy just now.
But the most enjoyable part of Sunday Night's service came after the message, and had nothing whatsoever to do with gay, straight, living a lie, stepping out boldly or anything else. At the end of the service, Swilley did something I haven't seen in a while, and I really enjoyed. I'm not going to try to repeat him here or replicate what he said.
But I am going to do the same thing in my own way. I am going to declare a blessing of encouragement, guidance, peace and intimacy over everyone who reads this post. So, if you have the stomach for it please sit back and enjoy these words.
I declare, and do now create with my words, a blessing to and over everyone who reads this. A blessing from Heaven; from Universally Objective Truth, Goodness, Purity and Rightness. A blessing that applies to all, and excludes none, regardless of any name, label, title, heritage, history, lifestyle, ambition or worldview. A blessing that pursues each mind, soul and heart liberally and proactively. A blessing that reaches out to you, individually and personally, at wherever you are in life today, and in whatever set of circumstances you find yourself at this moment. A blessing of healing and not destruction. A blessing of hope and not guilt. A blessing of freedom, wholeness and security.
I call forth a blessing of encouragement to anyone who feels alone, forsaken, overlooked or bypassed. The wisdom of loneliness is to understand it as a call to intimacy, as hunger is a call to eat. I call upon the universe to establish divine connections between the lonely and other people, books, concepts and doctrines that understand the Oneness and Unity of the entire creation, and I call out the knowledge that none is truly alone. Rather we are all one. Loneliness is a lie, a perversion of truth. Intimacy is the opposite of loneliness as satisfaction is the opposite of want. I exhort the universe to provide opportunities for divinely ordained, mutually beneficial relationships to develop and prosper, and I exhort the lonely to embrace those opportunities with enthusiasm, as if they are the Providence of a loving God.
I proclaim a blessing of clarity and perfect vision to those who are lost in the quagmire of life and don't know where they are going or why. I call forth the Christmas star to each one that needs guidance and direction for their feet, path and horizon. I speak energy and effectivity to the compass we each have inside us that directs us toward that which is Good, True, Pure and Right. As the sun breaks through and abolishes the morning fog, so I call out the Light of destiny to destroy confusion, depression and cynicism, and direct each one's steps toward that which they are created to be.
I release to each person who makes it this far a blessing of peace and security in your life, which comes from the knowledge that you are created on purpose for a purpose. As such, you are not irrelevant, inferior, unimportant or lacking value. On the contrary, you are a vital, indispensable part of that which God created. If you don't fulfill your purpose, nobody will, for it is yours and yours alone. This is the mindset that drives away fear and gives peace in every circumstance. Our security is found in our destiny, which is altogether good and joyful. Walk in it, and walk in peace. You were created in a spirit of joy, for just such a time as this.
I invoke these things in your life today and call heaven and earth to order concerning you and that which surrounds you. Reach out and receive this blessings, and allow the whole created universe to have the honor of participating with you in these things. Walk in confidence today, knowing that you are by definition part of something bigger and more important than you will ever be on you own. May these words not fall to the ground, but may they grow and produce a harvest that honors Him who spoke into the darkness and created the Light.
Amen