I declare, I do get invited to the most interesting celebrations! This weekend I am attending a Bat Barakah ceremony and celebration for the daughter of some very dear friends. A Bar/Bat Barakah (meaning "son/daughter of the blessing or grace") is a ceremonial blessing at the time of puberty in which the father releases a son or daughter spiritually and emotionally into manhood or womanhood. It is similar to the Jewish Bar/Bat Mitzvah (means "son /daughter of the law").
In investigating the purpose of this ceremony, I have come to learn that most cultures observe some sort of rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, but it is generally absent from our American culture. It is important for a child to receive his or her father's blessing in order to establish his or her identity and to walk into his or her destiny. As I read about this, different ones came to my mind whose parents, especially the father, have been absent from their lives, and I have watched them struggle to find acceptance, identity, and love, many times in the wrong places and from the wrong people. Hmmm...
Anyway, back to my friends. I have watched them raise both of their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and I am looking forward to adding my blessing to theirs as her father proclaims over her, "This is my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased." I have been asking the Lord for an appropriate spiritually minded gift, and a special word of blessing for her. I also look forward to watching her grow and mature into the beautiful woman of God that I am already beginning to see. Exciting!!!
Baruch Ata Adonai; Blessed are You, Lord our God!
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