What is the purpose of saying “bless you” anyways? I’ve heard that in the olden days people said “bless you” to make certain that the demons stay out of your body. But in other languages, such as Spanish and German, the words used when someone sneezes are words of health. So, maybe it is a gesture of wishing good health upon a sneezing person?
Or, maybe it’s just a an act of kindness. I spent three weeks in the wilderness this past June with a good friend of mine. She has allergies and so naturally she did quite a bit of sneezing each day. Since she is a good friend, and I felt it was an appropriate situation (not during a movie, etc…), I always said “Bless You.” And she always replied, “You too.” At first I just ignored her response, but she kept saying it and so I asked her why she always says “you too.” She told me that she found it to be a good opportunity to return the favor and bless the person that was blessing her. Interesting concept.
This week I am babysitting a little 2ish year old boy. He is so cute! And he is even cuter now because he is becoming much more verbal. Some of the words he uses frequently are: help, please, more, oh no, plane, kitty, milk, and cheese. He also says, “Excuse me” when he toots (too cute!). And he always says, “Bless you” when I sneeze. It is adorable. My heart melts every time and I really feel blessed. Not just because of this little tyke’s words, but because of his unconditional love for me.
I'm still undecided about the whole sneezing thing. But one thing’s for sure, I’m going to try to bless others more often, whether they are sneezing or not.
"Besh ew!"
2 comments:
Sister! I just explained bless you to a couple of my teachers. They always wonder why I say bless you whenever someone sneezes. No one ever responds or even makes mention that I said anything still I realized it was realizing this habit of mine because I really have said it without thinking in several situations. Anyway one day I said it after my principal sneezed and it said "thank you" I was so ecstatic to have someone accept my blessing. Nothing else was said but it really just feels good to be acknowledged and appreciated for what I do habitual in my culture. Anyway today one of my teachers (who loves English and dancing, so we have a lot to talk about) asked my what "bless you" means after I said it several times that day, where i spend most of it with sneezers (it is so dusty here) and this is what I said: "When you sneeze all the dirt or whatever caused you to sneeze leaves you body (the bad stuff) and when you say bless you it is blessing the next breathes to be clean and healthy (good stuff)" I remember someone on my softball team told me it was a bad luck not to have someone say bless you after the sneeze. And I have said it ever since. So now those two people say bless you after a sneeze and I always say thank you. I might start saying "you too" now that is cute, but will require further explanation. But yeah, it is weird being in a country where no one says bless you, really for anything. I have a lot of blessings to give! Good blog sis, happy to have a relation. well...sisters forever
sisters forever is right. LOVE YOU! :)
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