Bless

"And I will make you a great nation, 

And I will bless you, 

And make your name great; 

And so you shall be a blessing..."

Genesis 12:2

Father, I was saddened to read about how some tsunami-aid workers in Japan are being hampered by a cultural norm that we call 'pay backs'.   Some victims there are unable to receive, in good conscience, the help that's offered because it puts them even deeper in debt than they already are.  Social obligation chains them to poverty.


We all do this to some degree.  We hate to owe hospitality or help to anyone.  But it's a rough way to live!  How much better to pay forward* instead of keeping a tally of IOU's. What if I receive a favor with an open hand and instead of returning the blessing, I simply say, "thank you," then send some grace on to someone else?  Eventually, you change whole communities with this paying forward way of life that has it's source in Christ.  "We love because he first loved us."


Lord, you fill us up so we can bless others, not so we can play some kind of mutual happiness game of ping-pong with our buddies. Our pride is often the source of this whole trying to keep even scenario.  Help us swallow our pride and, rather than paying back, pay forward with blessings that you supply.




*From the commencement speech that Woody Hayes delivered at OSU in 1986, where he (mis)quoted R.W. Emerson:  "You can pay back only seldom but You can always pay forward, "Beware of too much good accumulating in your palm..."