Blessed to Be a Blessing
by Ralph Holmes

It’s been more that twenty years since I suffered a heart attack due, I believe, to a stressful situation in which I found myself. It wasn’t the heart problem that concerned me but the restraints that were immediately imposed. Having been used to a busy life, “taking it easy” was difficult.

After three months or so I was back to school doing my job, but life took on a different perspective. For more than a year I became concerned as to my role as a high priest because I no longer had any administrative responsibilities, having relinquished my role as district president after my heart attack. I prayed long and hard.

I was called one day to administer to my sister-in-law, who was not well. Her husband, my eldest brother, assisted with the anointing. It was a beautiful experience and I believe she was blessed. My brother left the room to make a cup of tea, and she whispered to me, “That was the ministry of a patriarch.”*

“I don’t think so,” I replied. That was the end of the conversation. Thinking the matter over later, I concluded that role was not for me; it was far too scary.

Many months later I received letters from our apostle and the presiding evangelist informing me that I had been called to be an evangelist. I immediately said, “Oh no!” to which my wife replied, “Haven’t you been praying about your role in the church? There is your answer.” I was afraid of the responsibility, but as time went by I found the assurance that this was what God wanted.

After almost two years, during a reunion, I was called on to give my first blessings, for a husband and wife I had known since their childhood. We prepared for about two months. On the night before the blessings, I hardly slept. I was completely absorbed; there was no voice, no vision; it just seemed that my body was overtaken. Words and thoughts raced through my mind, and finally I felt a peace that could only have been the power of the Holy Spirit. I felt a calmness as together we experienced God’s presence on that very early morning at Dunfield House.

I heard a young man preaching on one occasion and knew from what he was saying that reference was being made to his evangelist’s blessing. Then, only recently, a young lady who had some decisions to make said to me, “I keep reading my blessing, checking what it is saying about the decisions I’m making.”

My own life, which has been full of rich blessings, has been shaped by many things that were said in my blessing sixty years ago. Brother John Worth, who gave me my blessing, did not know me well but was given considerable insight into my life. He said I had been given certain gifts, but unless I consecrated them to the service of God they would be of no value to me. I was counseled to study to develop those gifts. As a teenager my ambitions were to become a musician and a minister in the church. My blessing clearly indicates that my preparation should begin immediately.

Without a doubt, God provided the way for me to study to develop professional qualifications and to enhance my knowledge and understanding of the scriptures. I was encouraged by family members and by loving church members. I will always be grateful to the church for providing me with opportunities to develop my talents in both music and ministry. The counsel that was given to me was a blessing to me then and still is.

*Before 1985, when women began to be ordained, this priesthood office was generally referred to as “patriarch” or “evangelist/patriarch."