Blessed

This is the first of what I hope is to be a series of reflections/essays intimately connected to my experiences with Lingkod Ng Panginoon (LNP)

Last Friday's prayer meeting yielded a recurring theme: blessedness. Mcdo, the worship leader, kept repeating the mantra of how blessed we are in the group. 

The speaker himself, Sir Joel (I hope I'm right about his name), also talked about blessedness. As a member of the Holy Trinity Community (HTC), a group of Catholic couples, he shared a moment when he glanced at the array of vehicles parked outside their venue of worship. All the cars, he presumed, were owned by HTC members and he took it as an affirmation of how blessed they are.

In our Action Group (AG) fellowships, the theme crops up every time. We share and give thanks for the many blessings we've received, ranging from a new car or a new career to the hasty recovery of a loved one, reconciliation among family members, or the opportunity of having encountered LNP. 

In sum, we in the group are thankful because we have received so much. We are so blessed and it is just right to exclaim loudly and in public of how awesome our God is. 

But, if I were to over-analyze (which, embarrassingly, I often do), is this how we should measure "blessedness"? Or is there another way? 

In other words, can we do better?

One Christian song, “One Day” by Hillsong, from my Youth For Christ (YFC) days comes to mind. A part of the lyrics says it best:

So blessed, I can't contain it

So much, I've got to give it away

Your love taught me to live now

You are more than enough for me

In this part of the song, the singer exclaims the immensity of God' generosity, so immense that she cannot contain it all. Like water overflowing from a bucket, God's grace has to flow outside of the self and into the world.

Yesterday, I was toying with the idea of creating a hierarchy of 'blessings' similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. As a background, Maslow's hierarchy followed a simple yet elegant formula: the needs were categorized from those factors important for one's survival to those elements that define and uplift our humanity. So we have the following in order of importance or immediacy: physiological needs, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

This hierarchy of blessings also consists of levels, grouped according to the source and nature of the blessing. I don't know if this is going to catch on (admittedly, it's not fancy or accurate enough) but allow me to explain what the hierarchy is:

Level 1: Tangibles - Blessings in this level are the most common. These include all the material things that you have received in your life: new car, new house, cash, toys, valuables, jewelry, what have you. These are the blessings that we remember most and that are easily found and received relative to the other levels of blessings.

Level 2: Persons - These blessings are literally the people around you. This level encompasses the time someone spends with you, your friends' presence through the good and bad times, your family, or the many encounters you have with different people in our daily lives. 

Level 3: Intangibles - In this level, blessings are transcendent and are very difficult to quantify. These are the blessings which cannot emanate from the world or from people but are psychic in nature or Godly in origin. These blessings include the inner resources we possess like courage, strength in adversity, wisdom, passion, enthusiasm, happiness, hope, faith, trust, and so on. 

Level 4: You - In this level, the blessing is you. No longer the recipient, you are the giver. This time, the act of blessing demands something more total, more all-encompassing: it demands YOU. Your time. Your presence. Your resources. Your LIFE. Ironically, Christian economic theory takes over from here on: 

'Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.'

Matthew 10:39 (NIV)

All these blessings come to us every day as we live through our experiences and decisions. But, given this background, this hierarchy, how do we answer now the initial question: how do we measure 'blessedness'?

The hierarchy challenges us to answer more creatively. It forces us to approach the question with a new perspective that is both radically different yet fundamentally Christian. It requires a rare level of spiritual maturity that I personally don't even have.

How do I know if I am blessed? Is it because of the gifts I've received? Because of the people around me? Because of the experiences that have made me better and stronger? Because God has been so good to me?

All these are perfectly legitimate reasons to justify our blessedness. But the reasons pale. They fade and wither under the light of a new criterion. And it is here where the lyrics of the song 'One Day' lead us to a new understanding:

This is the best proof that we are blessed - not because we have received so much but because we have given back. Not because God has been good to us but because - through us - God has been so good to so many. We know we are blessed because He has made us his blessings to the world.

To Him be the glory. Amen.