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Friends,
You see and hear the word “blessings” a lot at this time of year, and it made me wonder about the origin of the term and where exactly blessings come from.
The Hebrew term from which the word eventually derived, I found, meant “to bend,” or to “bend the knee in worship or praise,” but also to “bless God as a deity.”
There is a strong association with blood, to make “sacred” or “holy” with blood. You see that in Exodus, the marking of doorposts with blood makes them holy to the Lord.
There is an influence from the Latin “benedīcere,” to speak well of, eulogize or praise.
So, there are Jewish and Christian influences, and I think still to this day strong religious connotations. When I hear someone at this time of year say they are blessed, I think they are saying there are good things in their life that come from someplace or somewhere beyond themselves.
But traditionally it’s been thought there are things that we can do to secure blessings.
In fact, our nation’s Founders wrote that one of the reasons for the establishment of our Constitution, along with forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense and promoting the general welfare, was to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity . . .”
I still think of blessings as often coming from a higher power, but in this holiday season we are certainly thankful as well for the blessings that come from our Constitution and from all of you.
We here at the Badger Institute hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that the blessings in your life at this time of year – be they family or faith or friendship – are abundant.
We hope all of you have a blessed Christmas.
Sincerely,
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