Soul Food Revolution

I hear people say it all the time. Especially religious people. ‘How are you?’ ‘I’m blessed!’ they say. I read the words on Facebook and Twitter constantly. The words that simply read, “I’m blessed.” Each time I hear or read these words I wonder to myself if the person using this phrase truly understands what a blessing is. For instance, a few years ago a tornado rolled through my town of Clovis, New Mexico. After the craziness of this destruction I would hear those that didn’t get struck by the twister say they were ‘blessed’ by not getting swept away. My mind always wondered about those that DID get struck. Were they NOT blessed because the tornado struck their home? To go a step further what about someone that may have even been killed by this type of disaster? With this blessing theory would they be considered……not blessed? I’ve just never understood the use of this term ‘blessed.’

I talk to alot of people about business. Often I’ll ask my friends how business is going. My religious friends will either say business is slow or that their business is ‘blessed.’ My friends that aren’t of a religious belief will simply say that their business is either good or bad. I have a few that regardless if business is slow or great will respond more from a perspective of solution. In other words these friends are always looking to grow regardless of the current state of their business. The interesting thing about my friends that respond from this point of view are very rarely religious people. Interesting. They don’t view things by being blessed or bad. They simply view life by giving the best they can give and letting everything else fall in to place. Hmm………

Why is it that religious folks think they are blessed? I’ve dealt with many funerals in my day. I’ve also dealt with many weddings. I’ve never gone to a funeral and heard the family say we are so ‘blessed’ because our dad passed. I find this strange because the whole mantra of christianity is that a better place awaits after this life. If this is what christians really believe then wouldn’t it make sense that the most blessing would come when we die? So at a funeral of a religious person you SHOULD hear people saying ‘Great! We are blessed because now our dad is truly blessed!’ Yet at weddings your hear this statement. In fact I remember one wedding I performed and I constantly heard how ‘blessed’ the family was because of this marriage. Funny thing was 2 years later when that couple was getting divorced noone was talking about how ‘blessed’ they were. My question is simple: Are they blessed or not? I know all of this sounds confusing, well, because it is. This picture of confusion is what religion has caused. It is a sad, sad commentary to our religious society indeed.

I’ve figured out over the years that what religious folks mean when they say they are ‘blessed’ is that really they are grateful that tragedy hasn’t struck them recently. Which in reality isn’t being ‘blessed.’ Well, I guess it could be a blessing of sorts but it doesn’t mean you’re any more blessed than you would be if you lost your job. In fact there have been jobs that I’ve lost that were actually the greatest blessings that could have ever happened to me! The other thing that strikes me when I hear people say they are ‘blessed’ is that while they say they are ‘blessed’ for successful business or good things this also means that others who don’t have the same success or good things happening aren’t blessed. I wonder if people truly stop to think about this reality. If you say you’re blessed when you’re successful then what are you when you’re not? HA! The madness of religion.

I’ll end my confusing ramblings with this: I’m blessed. PERIOD. I’m blessed coming and going. Hurt or healthy. Dead or alive. No circumstance or destruction can change my perspective on this because I know what the reality is. I’m blessed. You see the confusion comes when we allow our circumstance to determine our mindset. Take my kids. Destroy my house. Take my health and steal my money. I’m still blessed. My mind and perspective IS NOT founded on things, people or circumstance. No my mindset and attitude is determined by WHOSE I am and where I live. I live in a community and kingdom that cannot be destroyed. Cannot be shaken. And is blessed because we are possessed……by the King.

I encourage you to not say you are blessed unless you truly believe you are. If you walked into a store blessed and walked out to find your car stolen would you still be blessed? You better be…because your car is simply that…your car. To my religious friends: If this were you, the one that walked in blessed and out to a stolen car, if this circumstance changed your mindset all of a sudden then I suggest you truly take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask one simple question: ‘What do I believe.’ Better yet, ‘Who do I believe.’

May you be truly blessed.

Cheers, Mitch