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Scripture
Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.
*I Peter 3.9 (NLT)
Wisdom Saying
When we are thrown up and down by the little waves on the surface of our existence, we become easy victims of our manipulative world, but, when we continue to hear the deep gentle voice that blesses us, we can walk through life with a stable sense of well-being and true belonging.
*Henri J. M. Nouwen. Life of the Beloved.
Wisdom Story
At age sixteen Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist, but he was having a troubled year. In the midst of the young Hungarian's personal struggles, one of the most renowned pianists of the day visited Budapest. Emil von Sauer was famous both for his abilities and for being the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt. Von Sauer requested Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged with some of the more difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann.
When he finished, von Sauer walked over to Foldes and kissed him on the forehead. "My son," Von Sauer spoke, "when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, 'Take good care of this kiss-it comes from Beethoven, who gave it to me after hearing me play.' I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it."
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Comments
The voice of blessing can come from outside us or within us. Someone blesses us by expressing appreciation for something we did or affirming faith in us. Many persons long for a word of blessing but do not have someone to give it to them. Many children live apart from the blessing of a parent, and this can leave a life-long scar upon the child. Many students graduate equipped with practical skills to make money but go out on their own without the inner assurance of being a blessed one. Many persons attend worship weekly longing to leave with a sense of having received a blessing. We never get enough blessing not to need another, and many among us live with a deep sense of not receiving blessing.
Many of us likely can trace the beginnings of taking seriously the spiritual life to our yearning to feel blessed. I know that was a major motivation for me. We can be surrounded by persons, and we can be surrounded by persons blessing us, but, then, somehow we still do not feel a blessed one.
Also, we can find that the blessing of others no longer is the blessing we are yearning most for. We long for a voice of blessing that arises from deep within us.
Meditation and contemplation provide means to listen to the blessing arising eternally from our deepest core. There, one with God, we listen with the heart. Rather than hearing words, we sense a gentle Presence who affirms us unconditionally and says to us, "You are my beloved one, I delight in you. Receive my love."
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