365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World

By Pierre Pradervand

Review By Cliff Foerster

Categories: Motivational, Spiritual Living

What a wonderful concept—to bring healing to ourselves and the world through blessings! Bestselling author, Pierre Pradervand, who has devoted his life to bless the people of the world, wrote The Gentle Art of Blessing. In it, he explains the transformative and healing impact on his life of Jesus’ words, “Bless those who curse you.”

Now, Pradervand offers this new gift. He has carefully organized this book so that if you take just a moment a day, you can be inspired all year round with blessings—feeling blessed and blessing others. Each blessing has a short, thoughtful forward from the author with sources noted and links provided in many cases. The sources range from all over the planet and throughout history—revealing the commonality of blessings, which brings much needed unity to the world’s people.

A South African Blessing

Walk tall, walk well, walk safe, walk free and
May harm never come to thee.
Walk wise, walk good, walk proud, walk true and
May the sun always smile on you.
Walk prayer, walk hope, walk faith, walk light and
May peace always guide you right.
Walk joy, walk brave, walk love, walk strong and
May life always give you song. (117-18)

Several blessings are from the most read book ever written—the Bible. This one, on Day 167, is entitled, All Things Work Together for Our Good, and is from the writings of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8, JB Phillips translation:

I bless myself in my ability to see the hand of Love in every single event of my life.

May I see any attack against me, be it slander, insult, hatred, distortion of my words or deeds or any other form of unkindness, as an opportunity to return good for evil, blessing for cursing.

May I face unemployment as a challenge to express my fortitude and discover hidden talents and creativity.

May I face bereavement or separation as an opportunity to discover that we can never be separated from our true shepherd, divine Love, our ultimate and only true companion, family, friend.

May I face the shrieking grimaces of fear in any form as an encouragement to discover and express a hidden courage and strength I did not know I possessed.

And may I face loss of any kind with the knowledge that the kingdom of infinite endless Love is within me and that it already contains an unlimited abundance of good which no material circumstance could ever endanger. (143-44)

Each blessing in Pradervand’s book focuses on a different aspect of life. There are blessings for everyone and everything—from trees to prisoners to newlyweds. He is pretty comprehensive! Here are just some titles of the blessings he shares: Acknowledging My Divine Selfhood, Blessing for an Illness, A Blessing to Heal Racism, Meeting Limited Circumstances with Unlimited Thoughts, On Bullying in Society, For Children in Foster Care Worldwide, May Love Make a Bridge. Chronological and alphabetical topics indexes provide an easy way to find a particular blessing.

Reading this book can change your perspective, and a change of perspective can change your life. After reading this book, you may think differently about nurses, about the people you work with, about people you disagree with, about religions—all in a good way.

This book opens up thought and allows space for healing. And who doesn’t need more space and healing?

I love this book and am so grateful to have found it. The message can change lives. And it is simple and doable—bless instead of curse. And by blessing others, we feel blessed.