"God Bless You"

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Now, don't ask me why. Years ago, for some strange reason, one of our kids was sneezing and I said,"Blow your head off." Well, that caused a lot of conversation. "Why did you say that? Most people say, 'God bless you.' What are you thinking? Who are you?"

I really don't know why I said it. I probably said it because in my subconscious mind I had real questions about why people always say, "God bless you." Well, maybe those thoughts were in my conscious mind. I have never really understood this "custom" at all. Don't get me wrong---blessing people is a good thing. I like to call for God's blessings on many---but not in a "casual" way.

My research turned up this thought: "In the Middle Ages, when influenza epidemics wiped out hundreds of thousands in a couple of weeks, a sneeze was usually the first sign the victim had been bitten by the fatal bug. The doomed person's friends would mutter, "God bless you," and scurry off as fast as their feet would carry them."

Sounds good to me. I guess that's it. Now, when somebody sneezes in my presence I just don't say anything. If they keep on sneezing I usually laugh. I don't know why, I just do. It doesn't seem life threatening to me.