Blessing myself — a new frontier

Good Evening, God!

Today I began the “assignment” to BLESS myself. I started with blessing You and that helped me to better understand blessing.  Before, I didn’t even know that I didn’t understand what blessing was and involved.   Now I am beginning to feel how different it is from praising You.

Ever since reading Prison to Praise by Merlin Carothers, I have practiced offering up the sacrifice of praise. But praising You seems like a head-centered activity. It is an act of will! I do it as a clear intention. I don’t do it because I feel like it.

But when I started to Bless You . . . it felt like my solar plexus was involved. As I understand it the solar plexus is big hub of nerves that seem to  connect all the parts of me. Dense! And it felt activated as I blessed.  Blessing You was easy. And as I blessed You, I felt somehow “closer” to You. It was as if warm, loving and caring feelings were emanating from me.

Then, when I started to bless me . . . I could sense those feelings extending into myself. And even though I am calling them feelings . . . they were deeper and more primal than feelings from my heart.

My Body and Being really appreciated — or maybe the word is NEEDED — the loving kindness involved in blessing myself. And I must stress that this is not selfish. Really, God! If I do not extend loving kindness to myself — how ever can I extend it to others?

I’m starting to understand the phrase:  Out of our innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water. That is what You want pour into and though us!