What Does It Mean To Be Blessed?

Blessed according to the dictionary means:  “Made holy; consecrated.  A title preceding the name of a dead person considered to have led a holy life, especially a person formally beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.”

Or from gotquestions.org it means:  “Statements of blessing are a wish for God to restore His favor on others or a declaration of His inherent goodness.”

Even Wiz Khalifa’s got a definition of being blessed:  “Got the finest with her shirt off and skirt off, showing her blessings”.

I am very sure I will not make any friends with this post, and I’m certain I will lose a few on Facebook, however, I can hold my tongue no longer.  It’s usually Facebook that puts me on edge with the word blessed.  It’s thrown around like leaves in the wind.  It’s used more often than God Bless You when you sneeze, and there are a lot of people out there sneezing.  People are saying it without even thinking anymore, like a habit.

Blessed seems like a much too important word for a great hotel room, a great workout, being in a new city, getting an autograph from a famous person. Even famous people are guilty of overusing the word.  They are blessed because they won a Grammy, an Oscar, a role in a movie.   Being blessed should be reserved for holy things.  Things like church, a healthy baby being born that was thought to be sick, children being baptized, your grandmother or grandfather who went to church every week and has since died.

I’m not saying people can’t feel blessed, but what I am trying to say is that maybe we are confusing the word blessed with grateful.  I suppose my opinion doesn’t matter at all.   It just seems like God or whatever all-powerful being is up there, might be a little busy.  There are people in Nepal dealing with the earthquake.   The starving children in Africa and The United States.   The drought in California.   The dying child in the ICU, to be worried about getting you a good hotel room or an autograph or email from a famous person.

Maybe it’s my agnostic self-talking.   I’m sure that living in the bible belt with a ton of Christian friends and acquaintances, as well as family; this will once again land me on a bunch of prayer lists.  But I can’t believe that someone is blessed just because they shot a perfect round of golf.

I’m not here to tell people to stop saying they’re blessed; I’m just trying to get people to think really about the word.  The word you might be looking for is grateful or just plain lucky.  Blessed is a holy word for holy times.  It’s like we use to say in grade school when someone would call your name over and over, “that’s my name, you’re wearing it out.”  Being blessed is being worn the heck out and is losing its meaning and value and making people like me grumpy.  The opposite of blessed, I suppose.

Please be mindful of your use of the word blessed, you’re wearing it out.

*Photo Cred:  Marc Johns