By: Donald Hancock
I was in a home improvement store last night, ordering a new kitchen counter top. While the salesman was writing up the order I sneezed. The salesman immediately said, “Bless you”. I thanked him and truly appreciated the gesture. I always do. I had the impression that, if I sneezed again he would have repeated the blessing. I did not “grow up” with that as a family custom, and I sometimes wonder what the motivation might be.
Originally, I understand, it was a superstition that, during a sneeze, the soul is very close to leaving the body for good. The “bless you” was an attempt to keep that from happening. In modern times I suspect that it is sometimes a force of habit and perhaps even an act of respect for the mother or father who taught the person to do that. But I think that it is often a gesture of genuine good will toward the person.
Perhaps it would be a really good habit to get into. No, not the repeating of a phrase like, “Bless you”, necessarily, but a genuine directing of our total personality in some form of good will gesture toward others on occasions of meeting or at times when we have reason to believe that the person needs extra help, a “Bless You “in, perhaps, some other form
Some oriental countries show respect , upon meeting someone, with a slight bowing of the head – the greater the respect, the lower the head. I wish that we had such a gesture as that in America. The nearest that most of us come to that is a smile and a hello.
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There has been an attempt lately to establish a gesture especially for the purpose of thanking our military troops. It is a placing of the right hand on the heart and then bringing it out in a sweeping motion toward the soldier. I hope it catches on. A “Bless You”.
A little more to what I really have in mind is not so much an outward gesture but an attitude of the heart. For years I have practiced a silent activity whenever I hear a siren of any type. Whether it is fire, police, or ambulance I voice a quick but silent prayer, something like this, “Dear God, someone is in trouble. Please be with them and help them in whatever way that is best for them”. It just takes a moment and nobody knows about it but God and me. A “Bless You”.
But maybe not. I read a story of a lady who saw a bad wreck and prayed a prayer similar to what I just described. She later heard that it was someone that she did not know but was a relative of a friend of hers. She went to see this lady when she was able to have visitors. She introduced herself to the lady and the lady said, “I remember you. You prayed for me right after the wreck happened. I want to thank you because it made me feel better when you prayed for me.” The visitor was astonished and , of course, hesitant to accept such a story. Then the lady described her car in detail and also the car’s direction and position in relation to the wreck. So, perhaps those we pray for do sense that someone has “blessed” them.
Besides an actual prayer it can be just a momentary thought. You might be in a grocery store and see a cashier who is obviously having a bad day and just direct, to her, a definite thought for her wellbeing. Some call that “sending energy” It might or might not help the person directly but then again, maybe it will. It will certainly help you as you do it, and it can be done all day long as you see people about you.
The word, Namaste, is a word used in India and Nepal as a personal greeting. It can be translated in several different ways but the way that I prefer is, “The divinity within me recognizes and respects the divinity within you.” I would like to adapt that into my own use, verbally with friends who would understand and non verbally toward other people about me.
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A “Bless You”.
Many acts of kindness and respect can serve the same function. Opening a door for someone, answering the cashier who says, “Have a nice day” with a genuine smile and, “Thank you and I hope you do too!”
You can practice complimenting where it is deserved. I went into a department store several days ago and the cashier was just wonderful concerned, accommodating, and friendly. After our transaction I said, “you know, I just wrote an article comparing the actions of a good cashier and those of a poorly trained cashier. You definitely are the “good” kind. You did everything just right!” She said, “Thank you, when you began I was hoping I would be the ‘good’ kind.” That didn’t take but a moment but she gave me the impression that it “made her day”. I think it was a “Bless You”.
My son lives in Miami and a friend of his, a lady who works in the Burdine’s Department Store chain, would always invite may wife and I to dinner when we were in Miami. I had a favorite expression which I often used in her presence – “I appreciate ya'”. Several years later she told me that she had adopted my expression in working with her fellow workers as she visited the several Burdines stores in the state of Florida. She said that, after two years, she began to hear, every where she went in these stores, her expression and mine, “I appreciate ya'”.
Perhaps you can think of some unique ways to say, “Bless You” in your own life!
