Blessings Along the Way

One of the real joys of living long enough to be considered as old is the way it has ushered in a season of reconnecting to people from my past.  Today I stood beside a country crossroad and visited for a spell with some friends from a church I served some years ago.  A few hours earlier a college friend whom I have not seen in over fifty years called and we talked as if those college days were yesterday.  Hardly had I hung up the phone when I heard a horn blowing in front of the house, which is the equivalent of a doorbell in the country, as a friend from a nearby former church stopped by for a few minutes.    

Every day is certainly not like today, but it has been a day which has been such a blessing in so many ways.  There was a time when I thought I could live in contentment here on the farm and not speak to anyone for weeks at a time, but when that possibility became possible, I quickly realized the need for connection with others.  To some degree we all need others in our lives.  When someone expends the effort to reach out to us, it is always a blessing which is a reminder to us that our own efforts in reaching out to others can be a moment of unexpected blessing for someone else.    

We often say to one another, "Have a blessed day" and the truth is we can take blessings to others with our efforts at reaching out.  When Jesus walked those roads of Galilee, He was never so agenda or destination driven that He could not pause and reach out to some soul to bring a blessing.  People like Zacchaeus, some lepers, a blind beggar, the mother-in-law of Peter, and the widow of Nain were just few of those who were blessed by the Christ as He journeyed on His way.  It is a wonderful thing to be blessed by the giving of others, but it is an even greater blessing to know that others might receive blessings from us.