D & C 163  | |
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Section 163:6b
Growing Capacity to Bring Blessing
Discernment Activity
Doctrine and Covenants 163:6b and Dave Brock’s commentary invite
us to be intentional in our desire to be a blessing for others. A variety of
priesthood offices call members of the office to bless others in specific ways.
But a call to be a blessing for the world reaches beyond priesthood offices into
the heart and soul of each of us.
In the commentary we are challenged to take a look at each daily aspect of the
lives we lead and simply ask the question, Am I blessing the lives of others in
this particular use of my time and energy? And then we are challenged to ask one
more question:
How can I grow in my capacity to bless?
These are powerful questions for the spiritual practice called the prayer of
examen. This is designed to be a daily practice in which we come to the end of a
day and reflect on what took place that day—where we sensed God’s presence and
where we might have wandered from our own sense of call.
Take a moment to breathe deeply and open your awareness to God’s loving
presence.
In your imagination scan through the day just completed and let the images,
connections, feelings, and memories come alive again. Use all your senses to
re-enter certain moments of the day.
• Ask the question, Where did I bless the lives of others in this day? Let those
times grow in your awareness.
• Now ask, Was there a time in my day when I missed an opportunity
for blessing? Again, let the missed moment be remembered. Let all those feelings
be caught up in God’s loving, forgiving grace. Remember, you are not asked to be
perfect. It is God who blesses and heals. Imagine a circle of light surrounding
you and the situation/people you remember, infusing all with love and healing.
• Listen in the silence now to the invitation: How am I being invited to grow in
my capacity to bring blessing? Listen for specific ways you can respond tomorrow
or next week.
• Offer a prayer of gratitude for God’s presence in this time.
—Discernment activity by Donna Sperry
Discernment Questions
- The author, the presiding evangelist of the church, writes that “we say
yes to the call to follow and serve” in order to “bring blessing to others.”
How have you witnessed this in your congregation? How have you experienced
the servant ministry of priesthood, in particular, outside the normal
boundaries of the institution? How about the ministry of members?
- The word “blessing” is emphasized in Section 163:6b. Read this paragraph
aloud, along with a reading of the Beatitudes, which are part of Jesus’
Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter 5. How do these two scripture
passages relate to each other?
- Dave Brock recalled being present at the dedication of the Missionaries
of Charity’s home for orphans in Nairobi, Kenya, which was attended by
important officials in the Kenyan government and Roman Catholic hierarchy,
as well as Mother Teresa. Why did most people come to hear and see her that
day, rather than the others?
- The title of this commentary is “Growing Capacity to Bring Blessing.”
When have you—and others—been challenged to grow in capacity so that other
people might be blessed? How did that process affect you?
- What is “authoritative priesthood ministry”? What allows us to speak or
act “as one having authority”?
- The author quotes John O’Donohue: “…the human heart continues to dream
of a state of wholeness, a place where everything comes together, where loss
will be made good…. To invoke a blessing is to call some of that wholeness
upon a person now.” Whom do you know experiencing brokenness right now? What
would it take to bring them closer to wholeness?
- The commentary closes with the statement, “Perhaps the greatest gift of
priesthood is good men and women touched by God’s grace who, without
reservation, share God’s grace by being ‘with us.’” Why is the ministry of
presence often such a blessing?
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