Blessing the World

Monday, September 29, 2014

...and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Genesis 28:14 NRSV

Genesis 28 describes Jacob’s dream of a ladder of angels, in which angels ascend from earth to heaven and back again. When he awakens, Jacob exclaims, “God was in this place, and I did not know it.”  

Jacob receives a blessing. From his family, all the families of the earth will be blessed. Jacob builds an altar and calls the place, “Beth-el,” the house of God.  

Today, we affirm that the house of God is everywhere and in everyone. Each child is holy. Each child’s face reveals the face of God, and awakens us to our own childlike spirit. We can exclaim “God is in this child, and I know it.”  We can bring out the holy in each child by blessing the child with our loving touch, nourishing food, and good water, safe housing, and neighborhoods and nations that are peaceful and secure.

God of all families, bless your children.  Open our hearts to love, nurture, and protect them.  Help us be generous in our time, affection, treasure, and political support so that each child might be blessed to be a blessing, in Christ’s name.  Amen.

Bruce Epperly

Pastor

South Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Centerville, Massachusetts

Bruce is an ordained Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ pastor. He is the author of over thirty books, including Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God and A Center in the Cyclone: Twenty-first Century Clergy Self-Care.