https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/way-of-love\/bless<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
When was the last time that you were blessed?<\/p>\n
When was the last time that you gave a blessing?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Just this week, during our Bishop out of the Box event in Williamsport, a team of 6 of us walked through the city stopping to offer prayers with people in public places-\u00a0 the park, the bus station, on the street, in shops, at the hospital waiting room. A prayer is a particular kind of blessing; it invites the other person into an intimate space of relationship with God \u2013 and you- and makes everyone in the mix pretty vulnerable.\u00a0 On our prayer walk, we prayed with lots of people, but one sticks out to me:\u00a0 it was a woman in the hospital waiting area who turned me down, at first, when I offered to pray with her.\u00a0 I had approached her and told her that a group of us were out offering prayers that day, and would she like one?\u00a0 She said, \u201cno thank you, I am waiting for a ride.\u201d\u00a0 I backed right up, and said “ok.” \u00a0And then, she said, so quietly that I could barely hear her, \u201cBut, yes.\u00a0 If you would.\u201d\u00a0 I stepped closer and we had a short moment.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t ask too many questions-\u00a0 she was clearly uncomfortable, but she also wanted the blessing of a shared moment of prayer.\u00a0 And so we prayed.\u00a0 Heads close, and very quietly, in the big, mostly empty, airy room with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows.\u00a0 We shut our eyes to make that space seem small, and in voices that only we (and God) could hear, we had our prayerful moment.\u00a0 When we were done, she quietly thanked me, and walked outside.\u00a0\u00a0 We had lots of other prayers that day, but this one stuck with me:\u00a0 quiet, intense, yearning, devout, grateful.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We say that God gives us gifts to share with the world.\u00a0 That is our blessing to offer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sometimes, it\u2019s not a gift per se<\/em> that we offer, but just a willingness to stand in the breach wth another human being and be, standing together, before God.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
How will you be a blessing to someone today?<\/p>\n
How will you open yourself to receive the gift of another?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
this is the sixth post in an eight-week series on the Way of Love turn. \u00a0 learn. \u00a0 pray. \u00a0 worship. \u00a0 bless. \u00a0 go. \u00a0rest. Service Gifts Friendship Hospitality Connected-ness Sharing Our Stories Evangelism Gifts These are the key words that are used on the Episcopal Church website […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/p>\n