Receiving and Blessing

The Common Lectionary for last Sunday was from Luke 6 - the less familiar version of the Beatitudes. Our pastors gave a really good sermon on the subject of being blessed and in turn blessing others. That made me think of a story about blessings.

I was working in long term disaster recovery following one of our local wildfires, on an intake call with a fire survivor - an older woman who had lost her home and everything in it in the fire. The intake call was meant to find out the basics of her situation and then refer her to one of our Disaster Case Managers. In this case, however, the woman had an immediate need that had to be met right away. On a fixed income, now paying rent where before she had lived in her paid-for home, she didn’t have enough money to buy groceries. I knew that the local food pantry was eager to help the fire survivors. So I suggested to the woman that she go there.

There was a silence on the line. I thought maybe she hadn’t heard me, so I repeated and started to give her directions to the location. She said quietly “Oh, I know it.” Then she said “I used to donate to them.” Silence again.

Often, I don’t know the right thing to say. I get awkward and tongue-tied. Sometimes, I am given the right thing to say. “There are seasons of our lives when we have the chance to bless others by sharing what we have. And there are other times when we are called to graciously receive, and allow others to be a blessing. In do so, our receiving becomes a blessing to them.”

Silence again. Did I say the wrong thing? “Thank you,” she said, “that helps. I will go.”

I realized then why I had always been uncomfortable with the quote “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”* Because for someone to give, someone else has to receive, and the grace in the space between the two - that’s where the blessing is.

It’s “Scouting for Food” time in many areas. You can support your local Scout troop and your local food bank by making a donation of canned goods. Food banks also appreciate cash donations to help cover their operating expenses and frequently have discounts with vendors that make the dollars they receive go further.

* In Acts Chapter 20, Paul attributes the quote to Jesus; it is not mentioned in the written Gospels.