A Franciscan Benediction

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 pain, rejection, hunger 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 the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.



Amen

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm reposting this on my blog... it's amazing.
9:35 PM
Anonymous said…
...wow...
9:39 PM
Anonymous said…
I love this one. It's so beautiful. Things that you would usually want to avoid--Discomfort, anger, tears, foolishness--Are suddenly given a purpose. It shows that everything truly does have its place.
10:03 PM
Elizabeth said…
Wonderful. I needed that right now.
10:42 PM
tehillim said…
amen. amen amen amen.
11:53 PM
Haoming said…
wow. thank you
11:54 PM
Anonymous said…
can't discuss this one. i have nothing to add. i love benedictions. they bless me. thanks so much.
12:01 AM
Anonymous said…
I really needed to read this tonight. Thank you!
12:30 AM
Sarah said…
Amen, indeed.
12:35 AM
Anonymous said…
The underlying blessing is *discernment* from all of these negative experiences, in order to have the will and desire to move past them to better things, and the empathy to inspire others to do the same, for having learned from these situations.

So beautiful..
1:18 AM
Anonymous said…
Oh, and I also want to add how striking the first lines are:

"May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships"

And the reader is like, wait, this is not in line with your usual character..

Until you scroll down to the next couple of lines, it sounds vindictive, and then you get the gist of it.

Good stuff..What more can you say? I think we're all pretty happy with this post.
1:31 AM
Lexi said…
This actually reminds me of a post I wrote a few weeks ago [great minds think alike? haha]...

It is the human condition to view misfortunes or suffering or pain as scourges and the absence of God. However, I feel they are some of the times when he is most present. It is ever-so-human to not realize through suffering that a lesson of great value is being learned. Most of the growing one does and knowledge that one obtains in one's life is AS A RESULT OF or during the 'hard times.'

Excellent.
Love this benediction.
1:41 AM
Anonymous said…
beautiful & clever. where oh where do you find these things, Stephen? Please?
2:25 AM
kellie said…
this is amazing
life changing

thank you for putting this up
2:30 AM
Scott Lee said…
A Francisan Benediction via 'Prayer' by Philip Yancy
7:03 AM
AWretchLikeMe said…
Oh, I liked that. Thanks.
8:45 AM
throughHislens said…
thanks!

very uplifting

sometimes you are in just one of those moods and when you read something like this is gets you up and back going.
8:56 AM
Chris said…
This was needed this morning...back to work with office politics!!! Your post will keep me focused on the main things today!!
Thanks a million!
9:49 AM
chris said…
wow, incredible... reading this was a great start to the morning. thank you.
5:19 PM
guard my dreams said…
thank you so much for posting this! it lifted my spirits coming in from an especially hot practice, and its so beautiful! i will be reposting this one....
6:48 PM
Anonymous said…
mhm. true.
6:52 PM
dana said…
lovely
shows that God uses everything for good, for his will
thank you and
amen.
7:40 PM
Hans said…
*laugh*

All there is to say has been said, so don't let me hesitate to join the chorus: Amen.
9:30 PM
miss lynn said…
Amen and WOW!!!! Both have already been said, but bear repeating. This is a great benediction to put on the door before I leave the house every morning. Thanks so much for sharing!
9:48 PM
Chris said…
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3.

"The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." Acts 5:41

Here's Philip Yancey's take on considering our trials pure joy, from Where is God(a little long, but well worth the read):

By those words (rejoice and be glad), the apostles did not intend a grin-and bear-it or act-tough-like-nothing-happened attitude. No trace of those attitudes can be found in Christ's response to suffering or in Paul's...Nor is there any masochistic hint of enjoying the pain. "Rejoicing in suffering" does not mean Christians should act happy about tragedy and pain when they feel like crying. Such a view distorts honesty and true expression of feelings. Christianity is not phony. The Bible's spotlight is one the end result, the use God can make of suffering in our lives. Before He can produce that result, however, He first needs our commitment of trust in Him, and the process of giving Him that commitment can be described as rejoicing."
11:26 PM
Iyrah said…
i like that... oh and thank you for everything...
4:47 PM
Anonymous said…
Beautiful. Just shows that everything, even what seems like the bad, all has a place and purpose in Life. I've always had that frame of mind and it was nice to read it, 'cause sometimes I seem to forget. :)
8:29 PM
Anonymous said…
wow, i think u just made my day!
4:17 PM
Anonymous said…
I love that.
10:01 PM
Raechel said…
Thank you. :)
4:37 AM
Amirah Harith said…
ditto. i'm reposting this too. so many people have to see this.

:D really true.
3:07 AM
laurafee said…
just what i needed....
12:40 PM
Anonymous said…
Dude I have a picture of you and the band on a couch. How can I send it to you?
1:25 AM
~Hansie~ said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
2:48 AM
Anonymous said…
This sounds like a poem!!!
Love..!!!
~ELLE~
1:40 PM
Anonymous said…
I haven't before commented here...but I really have nothing to add to this beautiful post, as a devout Catholic, this has a special place in my heart...thank you...it says what I've longed to hear so wonderfully...

<3
7:13 PM
Anonymous said…
thank you. this shall be reposted on myspace :)
-andrea
7:57 PM
evLan said…
stephen,
this kinda contradicts another post u put up where u basically said that no one man can leave an everlasting mark on the world . . . and u made it sound like y try. but then u post this saying go for it ? ? ? confusion . . .

pls explain - Katie
10:30 PM
Anonymous said…
this is great
just posted it on my youth group web site
gracias
2:20 AM
Anonymous said…
this reminds me of rob bell. and jon foreman. and Jesus.

definitely Jesus.
3:20 AM
Anonymous said…
Thanks for sharing Stephen. I really enjoyed this prayer.
4:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the six word memoir

Image
there is a (not so) current writing trend that is really pretty profound. short but profound. what it is is that authors, writers, and such are writing their whole memoir in just 6 words. some creative ones that i have found are... Nobody cared, then they did. Why? - Chuck Klosterman 70 years, few tears, hairy ears. - Bill Querengesser "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn" -Ernest Hemingway recently people have been putting pictures to their 6 word memoir and they have been incredible. here are some on this NPR LINK . so i think it would be great if each one of us did one about ourself. perhaps post a photoshopped picture and 6 words, or just your 6 word memoir all on its own. either way, i think it would be so interesting to see each others lives in a simple 6 words. HERE IS MINE: .............. LEFT BEHIND A LEFT BEHIND CHILD .................... alternates for mine: always looking, never finding. feeling found. lonely child found fame, lost self. -stephen so SO many good ones...
Read more

mankind gives life to machine!

before the sudden burst of technological advancements mankind had to communicate using old fashion methods of 'talking face to face' & interpreting the body language presented which are both now as we know a barbaric and primitive form of interpersonal communication. now that we have deemed it obsolete we have to issue a new set of rules that go along with our newly formed communicational evolution. it seems to me you can NOT take the ‘old outdated ways of communication’ and apply it to the new way of computerized advancement. for instance: my brother was giving me his honest opinion in an email of something i created. even though it was a negative opinion i appreciated it because i would much rather brutal honesty then yes men. because i didn’t email him back right away, because i was working on something else, he took lack of response as a sign that i was upset or mad. tsk tsk paul for thinking that we live in the barbaric days where if i was silent after you said someth...
Read more

PACIFISM.

this is one of the hardest topics for me to discuss, so im going to keep a running tab on thoughts here till i come to my own conclusion. tolstoy, ghandi, martin luther king jr., gk chesterton. and the list of pacifist's grow. this should seem like such an easy and logical decision. war= not good. death. killing. peace= contentment, stability, life. but when you have grown up in a country where the church, state, and weaponry have all blurred into the same entity it is a much harder decision to come to. there are SO MANY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE on this blog, just read through the comments! my LORD! you guys are brillant. ang said "There is a time and a place for everything, it depends on the situation." but i would like to hear the situations in which violence is necessary. defend yourself? your family? but what about war, when do we have to kill? 'one murder made a villain, millions a hero'. your right ang this is hard because i would defend my family to the death wh...
Read more