The Gentle Art of Blessing
By:  Pierre Pradverand

I first read this book back in 2003.  Still trying to lessen my mind’s tendency to find faults with everything (something I learnt from my parents, family, and society), I came across this book one day at a bookstore.  Even though I had been training myself to bless everybody and everyone, my blessings at the time were more an act of the will rather than an act of the heart.

In the book’s introduction, the author described an incident he came across as a social worker that lead him to a conclusion I shared and I still share.  He wrote:

Reading the above, I decided to buy the book on the spot.

I was struck by how simply and beautifully the book is written.  I was surprised that the book I had in my hand was a translation since the book was originally written in French.  The book’s idea is simple.  Yet if followed, it is profoundly transforming.

Some Highlights

• I believe it was this book that led me to the work of Larry Dossey who wrote “Healing Words: The Power of Prayer & The Practice of Medecine”, and “Re-Inventing Medicine: Beyond Mind-Body to a New Era of Healing”. 

• A story by Dr. Laurence Doyle that was published in the book “When Prayers are Answered” by D. Holmstrom in which he describes how he had an open fracture in his hand while participating in a judo tournament.  How after three hours of praying for others, and comforting others that were with him in the emergency room, the bone that had been previously broken had set and sealed.  The X-rays showed evidence that the bone was indeed broken so no one could argue that it wasn’t. (Pages 34-26)

• On the book-cover: Learn how to unseal inner fountains of healing and bliss which, once they start to flow, will grow with every sincere blessing.

The part I liked the most in the book though is the section entitled Integrity (Pages 72-77).  Click here to read it in its entirety.

Love,
Ahmad