not an un un unChristmas post

So today we hear from Origen in A Year with the Church Fathers.  He says that Mary was given the gift of being a perpetual virgin. Which means she didn't have other children after Jesus. That's a pretty strong Catholic position, and not all of my readers are Catholic, so I merely point it out for your consideration that a church father who lived in 250AD stated that Mary was a virgin for life. But that's not where I'm landing my plane tonight.

Origen makes an unusual comment about it. He says that, "It would not be not pious to attribute," virginity to Mary. And that odd double negative reminds me of Bill and Ted, where they would add not's and un's to their statements until they were ridiculous. And that brings me to my point this evening.

My point is in regards to the phrase that well-meaning people have started saying these days. They say, "Be blessed," or "Have a blessed day." And while I do appreiate that they're trying to say that God should be involved in our days, I think the language has done something similar to what CS Lewis points out at the beginning of Mere Christianity. Remember when he says that "unselfishness" has replaced "love" as the chief virtue? Well, I think that "Be blessed" or "Have a blessed day" has, in a manner of language, messed up the phrase, "God bless you." And I think we lose the power of "God bless you" to our detriment. When we say, "Be blessed," we are in a way saying, "See the things that God is doing, and be happy about it." But when we say, "God bless you," we are literally blessing the other person. There is power in words, and "God bless you," is one of the most powerful positive things you can say to someone. "Have a blessed day" is kind of the watered down, sugar-free version. I'm not on some kind of campaign against it. But if you're going to bring God into it, then "God bless you" is a lot stronger than, "Have a blessed day."

God, thanks for teaching us excellent things, even through Bill and Ted.