Building One Another  

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

Bless with The Blessing Cup!

Dear Friend,

Do you speak words of blessings to the people in your life, telling them eye-to-eye the ways they are a blessing to you and to others?

A wonderful way to do this is known as the Blessing Cup. I learned of it from the book of that title by the Franciscan priest Rock Travnikar.

It’s easy to do this with family, with friends and with small groups. The Blessing Cup is a way to celebrate one person or for everyone to share deeply and pray for one another.

Pick something to celebrate such as a birthday, a promotion, a graduation. Sit and share a meal at table. Put in the center of the table a cup, your Blessing Cup, filled with a liquid you all may sip (although some may not for reasons of hygiene).

Pass the cup. Each person holding it tells the person being celebrated, “Why you are a blessing.” After everyone has a turn, whether 2 people or 12, then pray, offering prayers of gratitude for the celebrated person as a blessing among you.

To make the Blessing Cup a regular part of family life, choose a cup that will only be used for this purpose. It will remind you all of God’s blessings whenever you see it.

If the family or the group hasn’t been together for a while, instead of using the Blessing Cup to celebrate one person, use it as a means of sharing deeply with one another. As each person receives the Cup, they may share joys and challenges since they last met, and then pray for each other.

The practice of the Blessing Cup will deeply encourage you and those with you!

Joy to you – Stan

© Copyright 2022 E. Stanley Ott

The steps for the practice of the Blessing Cup are easy. Try it with your family, friends or small group:

1. Choose a cup. Its nice if it has the shape of a chalice, but that is not necessary
2. Fill it with a liquid everyone may sip, if they choose to.
3. Gather around a table, the Blessing Cup in the middle, and enjoy a meal.
4. Pass the Blessing Cup around, taking turns telling the person being celebrated why she or he is a blessing. Take a sip and pass the cup.
5. Pray for the person, lifting to God in thanksgiving why the person is a blessing.

Or as a family or a group, pass the Blessing Cup, with each person sharing the joys and concerns of their life they want to share, pass the cup. When finished, then pray for one another.

There is much more in the book "The Blessing Cup" by Rock Travnikar, available on Amazon.

Picture by E. Stanley Ott