Benedict the African

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Benedict the African

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Estatua_de_Sao_Benedito.jpg

Chorus

We are blessed ………..every breath

We are blessed …………daily bread

We are blessed ……    blessed

To be the blessing

Oh with every breath …..blessed

Take our hands and our footsteps ………..blessed

We are blessed to be the blessing

Bridge

Blessed are those who mourn they will be comforted

Blessed are the meek they will inherit the earth

Blessed are those who hunger for justice for God will use their hands

Blessed are the merciful mercy will be there dance

Blessed are the pure in heart they will see the Lord

Blessed are those who live in Peace they are children of the Word

Blessed are you who walk through the fire and suffer for the road God shows you ,

Through everything give thanks and sing for the Love of God that holds you

½ chorus

We are blessed ………..every breath

We are blessed …………daily bread

We are blessed ……blessed

Blessed to Be the Blessing by Peter Mayer

I must say that I am not really acquainted with St. Benedict the African who died on this day in 1589. I saw his name on the calendar for today and checked him out via various websites, specifically church websites. He was born to Ethiopian parents who converted to Christianity. He endured racial discrimination. I encourage you to do some research of your own to find out more about this saint. How cool it is for people to look at the family tree of saints and see folks who look like them. How wonderful it is for all of us to realize that God calls and has called people from every place and time.

Peter wrote the song Blessed to be the Blessing to celebrate the work and ministry of our congregation, and our previous Intern, (now Pastor Jessica Harris Daum) who created a day of service for us where we cancel church on Sunday in order to serve the community.

Our tag line is, “worship is cancelled, join the service!”  http://bit.ly/1grsCa5 This year we are praying that 1000 people will take part in this wonderful event on June 1, 2014.

So, Peter takes the theme that God said to Abraham and Sarah, that “they were blessed to be a blessing.” (Genesis 12) In turn, we have adopted that theme to be our motivation for doing what we do, “we are blessed to be a blessing.”

Benedict the African, often referred to as Benedict the Moor was blessed, but when you read about his life you realize he was often “cursed” allegedly because of the color of his skin. But, when you think about it that rationale or idea of causation is really blaming the victim. One must deconstruct the situation and come to the conclusion he was “cursed” by others because they didn’t realize or understand that he was blessed, just as they were blessed. Rather, the sin of racism distorted how people saw each other. Consequently, there were insults and condemnation.

We are “blessed to be a blessing.”

Take that blessing, that wisdom, that attitude to heart today,

Blessings,

rtg