A Prayer of Blessing Worth Ever Word

A while back I read a book called "Praying Blessing Over Your Children" and loved the general premise of the book, praying specifically for God to pour out His spirit on my dear children...  And I ran into this blessing today and have decided I will begin praying this benediction over each of my children each night beginning tonight - this beautiful prayer so perfectly captures the goals I have for my children as they grow in spiritual maturity.  Tonight I will read it to each of them, but I plan to memorize it this week so that I can begin to pray it over them in the future.  It is not easy to pray for these things for my children - of course, the world tells me to pray pretty much the exact opposite for them.  Discomfort?  Anger? Tears? Foolishness?  But spiritual discomfort, righteous anger, Spirit led tears, and foolishness in the name of dying to self so that Christ may be glorified - these are the blessings of a life lived with purpose...

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships - so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people - so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war - so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world - so that you can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen.
(Franciscan Benediction)