“Ask advice of every wise person and blessing of every holy one.”
~John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

On Christmas Eve morning, my husband and I were having coffee in one of our favorite neighborhood haunts. It was the ‘calm before the storm’ so to speak. At noon I would begin the several worship services of which I was privileged to be a part. Each service has a distinct flavor and spirit and it takes a certain energy of presence to make my way through the afternoon and evening. So we sat quietly drinking our morning coffee watching the people and cars maneuver through yet another bout of snow. It felt good to not have any responsibilities for the moment. To simply be.

We watched as people came in to pick up their Christmas Eve orders. Boxes of colorfully decorated cookies.  Frosted Christmas breads and rolls for the evening’s sandwiches. One man was picking up an order to deliver to a Czech neighborhood. I didn’t even know there was such a neighborhood in St.Paul!  We listened to the banter between this particularly jolly man and the bakery workers as they  told him they had thrown in an extra loaf for him. Clearly the Christmas spirit was alive and well in this cozy little establishment.

Finally an older gentleman who had been talking with the employees began making his way out the door. He stopped just short of actually opening the door and turned toward us. His smile was bright and welcoming. First, in typical Minnesota fashion, he talked with us about the weather. Then before we knew what was happening, we were engaged in conversation. He revealed that he had been a butcher, still was on a part time basis. That he had left his wife of many years at home this morning while he was out running errands and she was preparing food for Christmas. He asked us how long we had been married and told us he had been married for, I believe, sixty or more years. He told us about his children and asked about ours. Before we knew it we were sharing so much more than a random dialogue with a stranger.

Now this may on first blush sound like just a lonely older person who liked to talk. But the important part of the story is that over and over he spoke of how blessed he was. When we would tell him the facts of our lives which he searched out, he would say ” You  are blessed.” And finally as he turned to leave, he looked back and said: “God bless you.” And smiling to the point that his cheeks had now turned rosy and his eyes twinkled, he left.

Sitting there on Christmas Eve morning, we were dumbfounded. Had we just encountered an angel? In fact, he did look a little like George Bailey’s Clarence! The only thing missing from his angel-speak was the common ‘fear not!’ but this life-long butcher was doing the work of an angel. Spreading good news with words of kindness and a deep presence to the world around him. Speaking words of blessings as he moved blissfully through the world. There was certainly do doubt in our minds that we were blessed, had been blessed my this chance encounter.

In this lovely book by John O’Donohue mentioned above, he writes that  blessings are ‘seen as a communication of life from God. Once the blessing is spoken, it cannot be annulled or recalled.’ Someplace in this city I love walks a man who knows the intricate work of butchering animals to feed the hungry. This same man knows the sacred art of offering blessing, of feeding that deeper part of each of us that needs a reminder: We are blessed.

I know it is true because I carried the holiness of his words, his communication of life, into my celebration of Christmas, God-with-Us.