Blessing

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 23 APR 2001

Spangler, a spiritual teacher, lecturer, writer and former codirector of a New Age community in northern Scotland, encourages readers to bless all things, including people, places, activities and even machinery. Spangler (Everyday Miracles) intends the book for readers of all religious and spiritual traditions. A blessing, he says, is distinguished from a kindness in that it brings forth a spiritual depth, urging the blessed person to become, rather than just receive. According to Spangler, blessing is not an act or technique so much as a relationship in which the blesser must remain open to what the need is and not try to project his/her own agenda on another. Spangler first fell into the idea and practice of blessing when a woman approached him after a lecture and requested a blessing. Shortly afterwards, he started having his weekend workshops break into groups of threes to practice blessing each other, with positive and powerful results. Spangler is so trustingly open to the spiritual gifts of all people that he merely offers exercises to help readers hone their own unique and intuitive abilities to bless, rather than giving strict marching orders on the how-tos. This gentle and nurturing book is a balm for the soul. As Spangler says, "Surely a blessing is also a flow of life force between ourselves and others or between ourselves and the sacred. It's an act of connection." In making that connection, this book itself becomes a blessing.