What Is A Blessed Life?

Someone took a camera and went out on the streets here and began asking random people "what is a blessed life?"

The first guy said he thought it was when you could fail and then get back up again. Another person said it was when you had achieved the "American dream." And yet another said it was when you had plenty of money and someone else said it was when your life was full with friends and family. There were a few others as well but everyone had an opinion.

I thought it was an interesting topic for me to think about. And when I think I have to blog.

I know this fellow who will answer to the question "how are you?" with the phrase "blessed and highly favored."

Then there's a song I listen to sometimes where the author says he's blessed but all of God's children feel the same way and there's no waiting in line.

The Bible has a good many references to bless and blessing and blessed. In fact there are really too many for my blog entry.

Jesus uses "blessed" in His sermon on the mount. It is pretty interesting and called the beatitudes:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

This doesn't seem to support the idea of current successes or rewards constituting the blessed life.

I've known people who were rich beyond imagination and thought they were cursed rather than blessed. Then I've known some others who were really, really poor and they thought they were blessed beyond measure.

We were talking the other day about a book we read in school years ago. It was Silas Marner by George Eliot. I remember that George Eliot was a woman although I do not recall her real name. (Don't have to remember as long as I have Internet access.)

Silas Marner has a tragedy befall him early in the story. As a result he becomes kind of a hermit and a miser. But then he finds this toddler whose mother has died. This was before the Department of Human Services so he just kept the baby. She, the child, grows and becomes the apple of his eye and the pride of his community. His life is tremendously changed for the better because of this little girl.

So was the death of the girl's mother a blessing or a curse? Were the bad events that befell Silas blessings or curses?

In my own life if I had not married early I would not have my children and they would not have their children. If I had not divorced I would not have cared for my mom and dad and I wouldn't have met and married my wonderful Judy.

Kind of depends upon the perspective doesn't it?

I know my life is blessed.

Maybe it is one of those things that people say "I can't define it but I know it when I see it."