Priesthood Blessings

[Enough]

I haven't ever really understood how the Priesthood works (or is supposed to work). I can recall PLENTY of cases in which a PH blessing has been given...but not "fulfilled", as given.

I want to understand this Priesthood phenomenon better. So, my questions are these:

1) To the men who have first-hand experiences giving blessings: What have you experienced/felt during your administration of PH blessings? Have you EVER felt a divine influence (e.g. What to say, inspiration, etc.).? Have you felt pressure to make something up, just to sound good/spiritual? Have you ever felt an influence (interpreted to be beyond your own)? How do you make sense of the Priesthood (as conferred & explained by TCoJCoLDS)?

2) To women OR men: Have you ever had experiences in RECEIVING a Priesthood blessing that couldn't be explained by hopes, expectations, or physical/psychological desires?

[Enoch Witty]

I haven't ever really understood how the Priesthood works (or is supposed to work). I can recall PLENTY of cases in which a PH blessing has been given...but not "fulfilled", as given.

I want to understand this Priesthood phenomenon better. So, my questions are these:

1) To the men who have first-hand experiences giving blessings: What have you experienced/felt during your administration of PH blessings? Have you EVER felt a divine influence (e.g. What to say, inspiration, etc.).? Have you felt pressure to make something up, just to sound good/spiritual? Have you ever felt an influence (interpreted to be beyond your own)? How do you make sense of the Priesthood (as conferred & explained by TCoJCoLDS)?

2) To women OR men: Have you ever had experiences in RECEIVING a Priesthood blessing that couldn't be explained (or was not explainable) by hopes, expectations, or physical/psychological desires?

1) I felt/experienced fear, guilt, and self-loathing for not feeling any divine inspiration and just making up what are essentially incantations on the spot. I've never felt a divine influence in a Mormon context; certainly not during the discomfort I felt during blessings. I believe that all priesthood blessings are "made up" to sound good/spiritual. Have never felt any influence beyond myself, other than the cultural and familial expectations of using the priesthood. I'm not sure I ever made sense of it.

2) My entire life, whenever I've received a blessing or have been ordained or set apart or anything where there is laying on of hands, I have felt fear that the "power of discernment" would alert the person giving the blessing that I was not worthy to receive it and that they would stop and call me out in front of everyone. That goes back to my earliest memories of laying on of hands. I always hated it, and felt guilty about hating it, because I was told I was supposed to love it.

In sum, I have not had any spiritual experiences related to the priesthood or giving/receiving blessings.

[Not Buying It]

I think most guys just say whatever vaguely appropriate thing happens to pop into their heads. If they are somewhat eloquent and good with words people really feel the spirit, if not generally people recognize the priesthood holders good intent and pretend it was a good blessing anyway.

Generally the fellow giving the blessing is so scared of saying something wrong that they are pretty conservative in what they say. But it's really mostly just an extemporaneous speech, it is stream of thought, it is whatever they happen to think would be a good thing to say. If you have a little time to prepare you might rehearse some things in your mind beforehand. Most guys say something about how much Father in Heaven loves the person being blessed, and that makes the person receiving the blessing feel all special.

In my state of utter disbelief I have given some blessings where people "really felt the Spirit" - so either an underground apostate like me can still summon the Spirit at will, or people are just mistaking an emotional reaction for the "Spirit". I'd go with the latter.

Blessings. What a weird thing.

[Enough]

Most guys say something about how much Father in Heaven loves the person being blessed, and that makes the person receiving the blessing feel all special.

I have definitely noticed this.

Blessings. What a weird thing.

Yes, Indeed.

[moksha]

If you think of blessings as an adjunct of holistic medicine, you can see your words being part of the healing process even if you make them up on the spot. It is the belief in their efficacy that becomes heap big medicine, not the words themselves.

[Emower]

I definitely felt pressure to make up good sounding stuff. I would try to discern what God wanted said, but when it came down to it I would just just say what I had heard said in similar circumstances. I have never felt comfortable giving blessings for this reason.

My patriarchal blessing says I will have a particular faculty for giving blessings. I'm thinking that also was something made up that sounded good.

[Enough]

If you think of blessings as an adjunct of holistic medicine, you can see your words being part of the healing process even if you make them up on the spot. It is the belief in their efficacy that becomes heap big medicine, not the words themselves.

Ah...Placebo.

[Corsair]

1) To the men who have first-hand experiences giving blessings: What have you experienced/felt during your administration of PH blessings? Have you EVER felt a divine influence (e.g. What to say, inspiration, etc.).? Have you felt pressure to make something up, just to sound good/spiritual? Have you ever felt an influence (interpreted to be beyond your own)? How do you make sense of the Priesthood (as conferred & explained by TCoJCoLDS)?

I have spoken with men who absolutely feel that God is guiding their words. However, the text of most blessings include a faithful excuse about whatever outcome happens or make such low claims that nobody will be surprised by them occurring. It's truly an instance of the "Varieties of Religious Experience" (hat tip to William James). It's dependent on how the priesthood holder processes the "spirit". I absolutely hear a variety of post hoc explanations for all manner of statements made via priesthood blessings. Stake Patriarchs are particularly good with this talent.

As a believer I honestly and truly tried to feel God speaking within me, but I never really got answers that felt certain and reliable. The best blessings I gave tended to be cases where I simply produced a couple of good phrases that seemed to comfort the recipient. Pure revelation seems quite elusive. There is huge social pressure when you are the "voice" of a priesthood blessing. I admit that I have virtually no fear of doing this now because I feel confident in my ability to say something "helpful" but "non-committal".

My believing wife continues to ask me for priesthood blessings as recently as yesterday even though she fully knows my non-believing status. Yes, I still hold a temple rec and do attend church as the undercover unbeliever. So when she asks for a blessing I simply provide some generic advice and basic comfort that God loves her. She certainly has been complimentary when I do come up with saying something profound, but this is based on her own subjectivity.

[wtfluff]

1) To the men who have first-hand experiences giving blessings: What have you experienced/felt during your administration of PH blessings? Have you EVER felt a divine influence (e.g. What to say, inspiration, etc.).? Have you felt pressure to make something up, just to sound good/spiritual? Have you ever felt an influence (interpreted to be beyond your own)? How do you make sense of the Priesthood (as conferred & explained by TCoJCoLDS)?

I served my 2-year unpaid sales gig (mission) in a country where blessings were a big deal, and the "Elders" were looked at to provide such blessings very often. My blessings were basically my own versions of phrases that I'd heard other folks in the mission use during blessings (not my native language). The same basic phrases you'd hear in most "health blessings" in the church. I'm pretty sure I closed most all of those blessings "predicated on the faithfulness" of the "Bless-ee" (Plausible Deniability/Blame the victim - even though I had no idea that's what I was doing as a ~20-year-old kid.)

I don't ever remember any divine influence, or any "power" telling me what to say. I'm one of those "nervous" people that can't sit still, but during blessings I was able to take a deep breath and quiet my body long enough to stand flat-footed and still to give / participate in these blessings. I took that as my "divine influence" during blessings. It seems my own confirmation bias was in full effect, if not the placebo effect also helping me to be able to stand still for a few seconds / minutes.

How do I make sense of the Priesthood? It's all made up! The only "real" thing about the priesthood is that it sets up the hierarchical structure within the church (which is actually real power) and give them the "right" to perform these made-up ordinances.

2) To women OR men: Have you ever had experiences in RECEIVING a Priesthood blessing that couldn't be explained by hopes, expectations, or physical/psychological desires?

As others have mentioned, the placebo effect is definitely part of blessings, but as to my own experience: One big giant NOPE.

[Red Ryder]

Enough, let's try an experiment here:

Pretend YOU'RE giving someone you know a blessing right now. Your hands are on their head, your eyes are closed, and people in the room with you are sitting in silence listening to you speak.

What are you going to say? How much of it will sound like couplets you've heard before? Mormon phrases, lingo, and incantations similar to the prayers you've given?

Now take 5 minutes here and type up your "blessing". Let's see what it looks like.

[Enough]

It's been a long time since I've had a blessing, or even been a witness to one (excluding setting aparts for my teens), but I imagine I would say something like what has been mentioned in this thread. Personally, I think that I would find the whole thing to be stressful. But, I don't know. My TBM DD just got her Patriarchal Blessing last Sunday. I was not invited to be there for it, so I don't know what was said. But, the recent PB has triggered my reflection. I'm genuinely curious to know what TBM and not-so-TBM's go through when called upon to give blessings.

[2bizE]

Even as a TBM I never felt inspired during a blessing. I always felt like a fortune teller trying to guess. I never had anyone miraculously healed or something.

[GoodBoy]

If you think of blessings as an adjunct of holistic medicine, you can see your words being part of the healing process even if you make them up on the spot. It is the belief in their efficacy that becomes heap big medicine, not the words themselves.

Ah...Placebo.

The placebo effect is amazingly powerful. Lots of studies have been done on it and priesthood blessings hit on most of the things that increase the efficacy and power of the placebo effect.

But to answer your question, as a TBM I tried to be an open conduit of information from God and just said whatever popped into my brain when giving a priesthood blessing. Much of it probably had to do with my own pre-conceived ideas about what the person needed to do, or would happen to them. I tried to dig deep and in a few cases I believe some ideas and thoughts may have either come from someone besides myself, or from my subconscious mind because they were rather insightful and surprising to even me as I said them. To be fair, I was talking to my wife today about some things and was similarly surprised by my insightful response and ideas even though I hadn't thought of it before that time. Also, that kind of an experience was extremely rare for me while giving a blessing. I always said that God loved them, that they would get better, and to be kind and loving, depending on the type of blessing.

[John G.]

If you think of blessings as an adjunct of holistic medicine, you can see your words being part of the healing process even if you make them up on the spot. It is the belief in their efficacy that becomes heap big medicine, not the words themselves.

The placebo effect is very real and so a priesthood blessing probably does help a TBM in a very real sense. Nowadays most people put their faith in modern medicine to the extent that before they approve a new drug they have to do scientific studies to ensure that the drug is more effective than just the placebo effect alone. But, if you think about, until the recent advances in medicine over the last century, religious incantations like priesthood blessings were pretty much all they had to offer a sick person.

[Snowdrop]

I recently read an article about the possible healing power of touch, which seems to work perfectly with the idea of a blessing. While it does not rule out the possibility of touch being a placebo effect, there seems to be a connection between being touched by those whom you love/trust and being healed. To quote the article,

"Touch, a key component of traditional healing, is being increasingly studied in mainstream medicine, with some trials showing symptom benefits in a number of areas, from asthma and high blood pressure to migraine and childhood diabetes. Other research findings hint that not only does touch lower stress levels, but that it can boost the immune system and halt or slow the progress of disease."

Perhaps priesthood falls into a broader category of folk medicine and has medicinal benefits which are not fully understood. The mystical framework of folk medicine sometimes makes it hard to think of looking for science behind why it might work.

This is the article, if anyone would like to read it:

Code: Select all

https://www.google.com/amp/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/how-the-power-of-touch-reduces-pain-and-even-fights-disease-419462.html%3Famp?client=safari

[RubinHighlander]

Personally I thing the placebo effect is overrated. Studies I've read and studies on the studies using placebo show it can have positive influence on symptoms, like pain levels or nausea, etc., but has no statistical effect on actually curing any major illness or condition. The same has been shown for prayer, which I believe is akin to priesthood blessings. We do know that TBMs place a greater value on blessings over just prayer. There is also fasting and praying, which TBMs believe brings down more power from Heaven.

I have a friend who experienced first hand the failure of a priesthood blessing that he and his FIL and other family bestowed on a BIL who was crippled in a car accident, just weeks before he was to leave on a mission. There were multiple blessings, some from regional reps and SPs. They promised he would be healed and serve his mission. Years later there is no change in the young man's condition. So, then the mental gymnastics kick and and the blessings of healing are interpreted as "His real mission is here with us and he serves as an example of faith." Or "This is the Lords will for him and he will yet serve someday." Anyway, you have probably seen examples of this before, but they are rarely talked about. I'd put money on it that if all blessing outcomes on significant illnesses or conditions were reported and statistically compared to a similar group without them, they would make no difference.

Now, with that said, I still believe in the power of comforting. If the person wants a blessing, why hold back, even if you don't believe. There's risk the outcome will not be in their favor, so choose your words wisely and consider throwing in the generalized phrases to keep it safely away from too strong of promises. I'm thinking of well known phrases like:

"Lord's will be done."
"Learning patience through trials."
"He knows your pain and has experienced it much greater, thus his empathy for you is great."
"Endure well..."
"Wait patiently upon the Lord, he will not forsake you."
"Our ways are not his ways."

There are diverse ways and manners.

[wtfluff]

I'd put money on it that if all blessing outcomes on significant illnesses or conditions were reported and statistically compared to a similar group without them, they would make no difference.

We already have anecdotal evidence of this: There are more "Priesthood Blessings" happening in Utah than anywhere else. In fact there are 15 prophets, seers and revelators in Utah that could stop a lot of suffering if "Priesthood Blessings" actually worked. Hospitals in UT are NOT going out of business, "if ya know what I mean"...

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

After my faith transition I decided to experiment with priesthood blessing terminology in receiving blessings.
My home teacher, a fine humble "worthy" retired high priest came to home teach. At the beginning of the visit I asked him to provide me a blessing, but instead of the typical pre-blessing chat about what the circumstances for needing a blessing are, I was intentionally vague about it. I was seeking a sign that would be delivered specifically by his words that would tell me I was on the wrong path and would show that he was channelling the spirit in knowing about my faith struggles (he didn't know much about it at this time). Instead, he really struggled to come up with specifics because of my vagueness. This proved to me that priesthood blessing terminology and phrasing is highly dependent on knowing beforehand what the problem is and giving preconcieved culturally accepted pronouncements, rather than pure direct revelation.

[Spicy McHaggis]

Scientology does it as well, with John Travolta being the hero: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment ... eah-remini

John Travolta: Made miracles happen
Scientologists are notoriously anti-medicine, and if given the choice, they rely on something known as an "assist" to help the body heal. As the church's handbook states, "A Scientologist can help make an individual well and happy simply by addressing the human spirit." It's that simple!

Back in 2012, before his all-out performance in The People v. O.J. Simpson, John Travolta claimed to have assisted a car accident victim. "I was in Shanghai recently at a work event and the Master of Ceremonies' best friend had recently gotten into a car wreck," Travolta recalled in an interview. "He had broken his ankle and was in constant pain. I asked him permission to do some Scientology assists and he said, 'Okay, sure'."

"You could actually see him confronting the pain and after a while he looked up at me and said, 'I feel better,' so I said ‘Okay, end of assist.' He had gotten noticeably better and I was chomping at the bit for more."

In addition, one-time Scientology recruit Josh Brolin insisted to Scientology expert Lawrence Wright that Travolta worked similar magic on none other than Marlon Brando. "I watched this process going on -- it was very physical," Brolin recalled. "I was thinking, This is really fucking bizarre! Then, after ten minutes, Brando opens his eyes and says, 'That really helped. I actually feel different!'"

Sadly, Travolta's camp called Brolin's memory "pure fabrication," but it sure does offer a nice mental image.

If anyone can prove they healed someone with a blessing, The Amazing Randi has promise a $1,000,000 award: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Milli ... _Challenge

[Spicy McHaggis]

I would say in reality nobody really believes in blessings.

If the most faithful TBM had a fractured femur or had a massive heart attack, they would be rushed to the hospital for treatment. Then, once they were stabilized they request a blessing. Six weeks later in testimony meeting they regale the audience with how the PH healed them.

In reality, if they believed in PH blessings, they would get a blessing immediately after the accident that caused the fracture, or the heart attack then they would get up and get on with their day.

Wouldn't getting treatment for an injury or disease show a lack of faith, which is what the PH blessing is entirely dependent upon?