"I Bless You"
"But I Say To You, Love Your Enemies And Pray,
For Those Who Persecute You,
So That You May Be Sons Of Your Father Who Is In,
Heaven For He Causes His Sun To Rise On The Evil,
And The Good, And Sends Rain On The Rightous,
And The Unrighteous"
Once There Was A Young Boy Who Lived With His Father
In A Cottage Deep In The Forest.
His Father Worked Him Hard From Sunrise To Sunset,
And Still Almost Every Evening He Would Hear His Father,
Say The Same Thing: "Poor Me!
Poor Me! I Will Die A Sad Old Man Because,
You Are A fool And Will Never Amount To Anything".
But The Boy Was Not A Fool He Showed A Lot Of, Wisdom For His Age And Had A Generous Heart.
One Day After Helping An Old Widow Stack Wood,
He Was About To Go Home When She Stopped Him,
Placed Her Hand On His Head And Said,
You Are A Reflection Of The Face Of God.
The World Is Brighter For The Joy You Have Given,
Me This Day.
I Bless You My Child!"
The Boy Stepped Back, Amazed: "What Was That ?"
"Why, It Was A Blessing My Child!
Haven't You Ever Received A Blessing ?
Back At Home He Asked, Papa ? Why Do You Curse Me?
Why Do You Not Bless Me ?"
"What A Ridiculous Question! Because It Is Against My
Nature To Bless And I Will Not Do What,
Feels So Unnatural To Me , What A Ridiculos Question,
Poor Me! Poor Me I Will Die A Sad Old Man Because,
You Are A Fool And Never Amount To Anything".
"Oh. Said The Boy , And He Felt Sorry For His Father,
But That Night He Decided That No Matter,
How Incomfortable It Felt He Would Become The Kind Of,
Person Who Blessed Others And So He Did.
The Boy Grew To Be A Man, Left The Forest And Built,
A Home For Himself In The Meadowlands.
In Time He Had A Family Of His Own.
He Was Still Haunted By The Curses Of His Father,
And It Would Make Him Sad For Days At A Time,
But He Had Decided To Bless , So Even Though He,
Felt Sad, Almost Every Evening He Would Call One Of,
His Children To Himself Lay His Hand Upon Their Head,
And Speak These Words:
You Are A Reflection Of The Face Of God.
The World Is Brighter For The Joy You Give,
Me This Day I Bless You My Child.
One Night He Had A Dream In Which He Saw His,
Father And Heard Him Saying Over And Over:
Poor Me! Poor Me! I Will Die A Sad Old Man ,
Because You Are A Fool And Will Never Amount,
To Anything".
It Upset Him So Much He Woke Up ,
Got Out Of Bed And Went Out Into The Backyard,
He Stood Ther By The Trees In The Moonlight,
And Was So Angry His Hands Became Fists As He,
Spoke Out Loud To The Wind:
"What's The Point In Being Spmeone Who Blesses?
I'm Still So Hunted By These Curses Of My Father!
Well, Maybe I Should Curse As Well!"
And He Kicked The Ground As Hard As He Could,
Which Shook Loose A Stone,
He Picked It Up To Throw And Just Then The Wind,
Became Very Strong And He Thought He Heard A,
Voice, Do Not Discard Your Father's Heart!"
He Looked At The Trees And Then At The Rock,
In His Hands.
The Voice Called Again: "Do Not Discard Your Father's,
Heart!".
"Who Are You?
I am The Father Of Every Son And Daughter And I Tell,
You The Stone You Hold In Your Hand Is Like,
The Condition Of Your Father's Heart!"
He Looked At The Rock.
He Could Tell It Was Badly Misshappen,
That It Had Broken Off From A Larger Rock,
And Had Many Cracks And Flaws.
Again The Voice: You Can Try To Change This Rock.
You Can Press It Until Your Fingers Blees,
But You Will Not Succeed In Changing It!
Neither Will You Succeed In Changing The Heart Of,
Your Father By Firce Or Manipulation.
Hold Your Father's Hear Gently Within Your Own,
And Pray For Him, You Have No Idea What Forces,
That Shaped This Rock, Neither Do You Know,
The Forces That Shaped The Heart Of Your Father.
Hold Your Father's Heart Gently Within Your,
Own And Pray For Him".
"When Did His Heart Become Like This?
"When He Chose To Curse Instead Of Bless.
But Do Not Become Proud...Your Heart Would Look Just,
Like This If I Had Not Blessed You As A Child'.
"I Only Remenber The Old Woman."
"The Voice Was Hers, But The Words Were Mine.
" Then Why Didn't You Bless My Father When,
He Was A Child?"
"I Bless Every One Of My Children.
But I Never Force Them To Bless In Return.
In Eternity You Will Have No Questions.
For Now, It Is Enough That You Decide To Bless,
And Not Curse".
"Father Of Every Son And Daughter,
Bless My Father".
And As Soon As He Spoke These Words,
The Wind Died Down And Everything Became Peaceful,
In The Countryside And In The Heart Of The Young,
Man, He Went Back Inside , Put The Rock In A Safe
Place Laid Down And Went Right To Sleep.
He Had In A Safe Place, Laid Down And Went Right,
To Sleep, He Had The Best Night Sleep He'd Had For,
Along Time.
And From Then On Whenever He Recalled One Of,
The Curses Of His Father He Genuinely Prayed,
A Blessing On His Father And In Time Began
To Experience True Healing And A Strong Peace Within.
One Evening There Was A Knock On The Front Door,
And As He Had Raised His Children To Do,
They Welcomed In A Blind Beggar ,Sat Him Down AT,
The Kitchen Table And Gave Him Down At The Kitchen,
Table And Gave Him Some Food To Eat,
The Young Man Walked In And Immediately,
Recognized It Was His Own Father.
But He Didn't Reveal His Own Identity, He Listened,
To The Old Man Speak, And The Old Man Talked,
About How His Son Had Abandoned Him How He Had,
Lost His Eyesight And How He'd Been Forced To Beg,
In A World Where Life Was Hard.
Just Then His Son Spoke Up:
"Grandfather! You're Welcome To Stay Here With Us!"
"But I Have No Money To Pay You."
"Oh, We Don't Need Any Money; All We Ask Is,
That As Long As You Stay With Us You Speak Only,
Blessings What's The Matter ?
"It...It's Against My Nature To Bless!"
"Grandfather, I can tell By Your Hands That You,
Have Worked Your Whole Life.
So , Begging Must Be Against Your Nature As ,
Well, But See , It Has Brought You Here To Us!
The Old Man Couldn't Argue This Point,
So He Agreed To Stay But It Was Week Before He,
Spoke A Word- It Was So Against His Nature To Bless.
When He Finally Did, You Could Hardly Hear Him:
What's That Grandfather ?
"I Said Bless You For Taking An Old Man In From,
The Cold , I Wish My Son Had Turned Out Like You,
But He Was A Fool And..."
"Ah! Grandfather, Only Blessings!
"Well , I Wish My Son Had Turned Out Like,
You! Bless You!.
Wasn't Bad For A First Blessing!
And A Week Later He Spoke Another One And It Was,
A Little Smoother And The Next Day He Spoke Two,
And They Were A Lot Smoother.
Then He Began To Bless Every Day- Many Times In,
A Day, He Really Got Into It! You Could Say That,
Blessing Became...Second Nature To Him.
And The More He Blessed, The More He Smiled.
And The More He Smiled The More Hs Face Softened.
And The More Face Softened, Yhe More His Heart,
Softened And The More His Heart Softened The More,
Joy He Began To Experiecnce; A Different Kind Of,
Joy Than He Had Known Before.
They Lived Happily For Years Until One Winter,
The Old Man Fell Ill And Near Death.
As His Breathing Grew Labored His Son Sat On,
The Bedside And Asked; "Grandfather Is There,
Anything I Can Get For You ?
"No One Can Bring Me What I Most Need At This Hour''
"Please Grandfather, Anything! What Would You Like ?
"I Should Like To See My Own Son Once More To,
Give Him My Blessing.
As He Was Growing I Gave Only Curses,
I Told Him It Was Against My Nature To Bless.
And As You See , I Have Learned To Bless Too Late...
Then His Son Leaned Closer And Whispered;
"Papa! Papa It's Me Your Own Son...
Iam Here! It Is Not Too Late! God Has Seen Fit,
To Bring Us Together These Last Years...It's Not,
Too Late! I'm Here...I'm Here!
And They Embraced
Amoment Later The Old Man Straightened Up,
Stretched Out A Trembling Hand Laid It Upon His,
Son's Head And Spoke These Words;
You Are A Reflection Of The Face Of God.
Though I Cannot See You With My Eyes , I See You,
With My Heart And The Mercy You Have Shown Me,
These Past Years Is Like A Brilliant Light, Dispelling,
All Shadow As I Pass From Time Into Eternity.
I Will Die A Happy, Happy Old Man , Because,
I Have Learned To Bless And So...My Son...
I...Bless You."
And With These Words, His Hand Fell Back Down,
To His Chest And He Died With This Beautiful Smile,
On Hs Face...
Later That Night The Young Man Took The Stone,
Out Of The Place He Had Put It Years Before And,
He Sat At The Kitchen Table By Candlelight.
Turning It Over And Over In His Hands A Single,
Tear Fell Onto The Rock And It Split In Two.
Inside Was A Priceless Stone Smooth To The Touch,
And Sparkling In Beauty.
Just Then The Wind Became Very Strong Outside And,
He Got Up To Close The Shutter , But Then Again He,
Heard The Ancient Voice;
"Eternity Shines Brighter For The Joy You Bring Me,
This Day And I Bless You My Child.
Then The Wind Died Down And Everything Became,
Peaceful In The Countryside And In The Heart Of.
The Young Man.
May The Lord Bless You And Protect You.
May The Lord Smile On You And Be Gracious To You.
May The Lord Show You His Favor,
And Give You His Peace"
God Bless You Have A Beautiful Day
Lucy
www.keralites.net          |
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