²³ Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,

²⁴ The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

²⁷ So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

Numbers 6:23-27

            In many churches at the close of the service, the pastor will use the blessing given to Aaron to bless the Israelites.  Parting blessings are important.  The language we were translating contained the tradition of walking with the guest part way home and then saying, “God go with you.”  The Swahili parting is “kwa heri”, go with blessing.  Peace is identified with God’s blessing.

         What is the blessing you would wish on your loved ones this Advent season?  We toast to people’s health and success.  We might send our children to school praying they pass a test.  We might send a spouse to work praying for wisdom to deal with a thorny challenge the person is facing.  Being at peace with ourselves, our world and our God is a good foundation for facing any challenge we experience today.  May God give you peace as you walk through week 2 of this Advent day!

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