I was getting my breakfast recently and happened to glance out the kitchen window to see a flock of turkeys wandering past. I counted 14 in all that I could see past the car and shed—I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a big flock of wild turkeys! The sight of them gave me my first smile of the morning, smiling at the 14 fancy feathered blessings just a stone’s throw away. Of course I imagine they were wandering across our yard because they found and abundance of blessings to nibble on here as well, and since among other things, they make meals of what I would call the annoying insects underfoot, they’re even more of a blessing!
Sounds like a Humphrey Bogart kind of thing—“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” with that waddling flock of blessings. They bless me, we bless them—isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? It was probably after making my coffee and turning to go enjoy that blessing when my eyes happened to glance out the window to see that lovely little flock. They still would have walked by had I not looked out at just the right time. I’ve seen one or two here and there on the property too, so it’s even likely that all or some of those blessings had walked by that way before, and I just hadn’t noticed. Makes me wonder how often blessings walk right past us and we just don’t notice, and then miss the blessing.
A few years ago I started signing off on my notes and letters, “Keep being a blessing,” which many of you have seen, and which I hope has made you think a bit. A lot of people end their notes with something like “blessings,” or “be blessed.” But considering we are already all so blessed in such an abundance of ways, that seems to be a bit redundant and trite. However, remembering that God calls us turn our blessings into blessings for others, a little reminder that it’s not all about us can’t hurt.
We don’t usually wander around in flocks passing out blessings, but it’s really not that difficult to do when we’re on our own either. Just sending a smile to folks you pass each day—especially to those who look like they could really use one—is an endless supply of blessings to share. How you connect with people is the same. We were just at Home Depot the other day, and not one, but TWO of their team were so exuberant it offering to help, I couldn’t help but be blessed. Sure, they were just doing their job—but too often these days you interact with grumpy people “just doing their job,” or those who act like you’re inconveniencing them when placing an order or whatever. Big difference there!
Sometimes our Christian brothers and sisters act more like they are doing undercover operations with their faith—don’t let you be that guy! St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians how important it is for those around you to not be surprised by the faith we carry–
“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do” (Phil. 4: 4,5).
Such a simple thing to keep being a blessing—so don’t keep them to yourself! Rev. Jim