Minnesota Landscape Arboretum May 10, 2023

Families come in  different sizes and mixes. It doesn’t much matter what type of family you came from or what kind of family you currently live in, so much as how you live with others around you. A number of years ago, I came across a piece by Theodore Adams called “Blessed is the Family.”  

I’ve always found something that speaks to me in it. 

“Blessed is the family where God is present and where the spirit of Christ rules.
Blessed is the family where children are welcomed and given their rightful place.
Blessed is the family hallowed by devotion, where parents and children pray together.
Blessed is the family where all show their love in ways that mean the most to those they love.
Blessed is the family where each seeks to bring out the best in the other and to show his or her own best self at all times.
Blessed is the family where children grow up and grown-ups do not act like children.
Blessed is the family where all have learned to face their daily problems in a Christian spirit and to disagree without being disagreeable.”

I suspect that Theodore Adams might have a few more Beatitudes for a family today, like:

Blessed is the family which lives free of violence, and works together as peacemakers.
Blessed is the family that avoids the traps of addiction, freeing all to live in fullness.
Blessed is the family which teaches truth, and lives with integrity.
Blessed is the family that lives in harmony with other races and faiths.
Blessed is the family that teaches kindness to all of God’s children and God’s creation.

We do not live in isolation from each other.   We may be a family of one or a family of ten, yet  each of us have people and relationships that are important to us.   May you be both  blessed in your family and  one who blesses those you are in relationship with.

A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35