The Blessing
January 25, 2009
The blessing at the end of morning prayer in CDP is:
Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.
As you notice, this voiced wish or desire for good, is not addressed to God. This “prayer” assumes that you have someone in mind for whom you wish all the wonderful desires mentioned here. It is a prayer in community, for community, by community.
A couple of questions:
Has anyone used this prayer in their missional communities, or societies of Jesus (churches)?
Who do you have in mind when you say this blessing?
Perhaps I’ll be the first to answer my own questions. I haven’t used it in a corporate setting. But I am excited when I think about using it in a couple of settings to see how it goes. I will try it in two life groups I am involved with. And I hope to make it a reguar part of the prayer we end with in those groups. I am not a pastor of a church presently but would love to hear from some to see how it works in larger settings.
As to the second question, I’ll also be the first to answer. Sometimes I think and pray for family members, my sisters, and brothers, my wife and children and grandchildren, friends, and colleagues, and the life groups of which I am a part. Especially, I desire the expressions of this prayer in the presence of the Lord for those who are away from home, from God, from the fold.
Your turn…
Comments
4 Comments to “The Blessing”
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I have not used it in a large setting, yet. Quite often my son does morning prayers with me and I often speak it right to him (with my hand resting on his head in blessing). He is only 2 1/2, so he does not understand what I am doing, but he still wants to come and pray with me every morning.
Mostly I think about the person(s) that I prayed for in my ‘prayers for others’.
Chad, thanks for the wonderful picture of you praying this blessing upon your son.
Georges, I too usually pray this blessing in light of those in my time of “praying for others.” Thanks again for working through the different aspects of the morning prayer, it has been very helpful for me.
Chad and Brad,
Thanks for sharing. I often pray it for my kids.
Can you see this being effective at an appropriate point in a worship service? I am itching to try it to see how it is received.
The society of Jesus of which I am a part has used this blessing at the end of our weekly worship time since our beginning 5 years ago. One of the members of our community put a tune to it and we sing it to each other as go from being a “gathered community” to being “dispersed community.”
I think if you would ask others from our community about this practice they would tell you it holds deep meaning for them.