Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from July, 2015

A Blessing On Your House (Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov)

The other day, as I was washing a glass pitcher in the kitchen, I suddenly flashed back to the memory of receiving the lovely gift. It was 2003 and we had recently moved into our home in Ashland; our first real home of our married life, after a series of rentals through the early days of marriage, graduate school, and 4 moves in 6 years. To mark the occasion of official home ownership, we invited friends and family to join us for a traditional house blessing. The assistant rector of our home church at the time (Trinity Episcopal in Fredericksburg) led our guests in a litany as we moved from room to room, acknowledging the blessing of shelter, recognizing the joy of community, and asking for peace, health, and security in the years to come. Then we celebrated in the most traditional way: with food, beverage, love, and laughter shared with good friends.  In the sacrament of baptism, we recognize a person's entrance into the church family. The congregation at large promises to supp