my patriarchal blessing is rehearsed

[Hemidakota]

I do keep my children's PB's, along with husbands. The last three from the Stake's PB, there were all different. Though, it doesn't really matter.

Was the blessing given in the same tiimeframe?

[Kirajo]

My dads blessing blessed him with great health throghout his life...he asked me if Patriarchal blessings expire since he is in fact not in great health at all hahahaha. Who knows....

[funkyfool]

I do keep my children's PB's, along with husbands. The last three from the Stake's PB, there were all different. Though, it doesn't really matter.

Was the blessing given in the same tiimeframe?

your children let you read their blessings?

My brother received his blessing in october -03. i received mine July '07. same patriarch.

[funkyfool]

Tom, explain to me straight up, why it is that you think i shouldnt have gotten my patriarchal blessing.

now that i think of it more, it was actually a great idea that i got my patriarchal blessing when i did. I received it at the exact right time. I actually held it close to me and let it guide me for a short period following receiving it.

it wasnt until just now, that i question that the strength i received from it....that the "strength" really was all just in my head. just a mind game. it wasnt the blessing, it was just me.

[Misshalfway]

questioning the patriarch IS the first thing i did. I can tell just being around him though that he is a very spiritual man. He's old and i think pretty wise. He's given close to 1200 blessings by now.

It would be one thing if our blessings were similar. THey are exactly the same though basically. But there are some very specific things that are literally verbatim between the two blessings. i just...i dunno.

This is a difficult one. And I am sorry for it. I think though, that if the patriarch made you feel the spirit when you were with him, then that is something.

I wish I could say that I don't know what it is like to doubt. But, I know all about that. I have just been through a long questioning period myself. So, I know what you are going thru....at least in part. And it is not easy. But through all of it, my faith has been confirmed and I feel myself getting stronger and stronger.

There must be some reason this is happening. My husband often says that "things happen FOR us, not TO us." Perhaps this is some blessing in disguise. Maybe you won't know the answer or meaning of it for a long time. I have worried about my own blessing for similar reasons-- and mine is very unique. I am learning to have more faith.... and to look at what it IS rather than comparing it to what it is not.

I wish I had more answers than that. I guess, I can say that I understand. And that it will be alright.

[DeafRM64]

HI..

I read your posting about your concerns that your patriarchal blessing and your brother's blessings are very similar.

Well, let me ask you this question.. Are both your blessings exactly the SAME? No patriarchal blessing are exactly the same even given by the same patriarch. It may be similar, but not exactly the same. You can compare this with snowflakes. There are millions and millions of snowflakes and some may be similar, but no snowflake is exactly alike. It's the same with patriarchal blessings. I don't think we should blame the patriarch for not failing his calling no matter how old he is or health status. I've had friends who say their blessing is not as great as they had hoped because the patriarch was old or sick when he gave their PB. You got to remember, the patriarch is just a "mouthpiece" for the Lord.

My suggestion is for you to go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him about it.

Hope this helps.

:)

[Lbybug]

umm...i have 2 friends who are brothers. a year apart. they're extremely close. they got their patriarchal blessings by the same patriarch and they are the exact same. word for word. but instead of thinking of it as a bad thing, it's something that brought them closer together. i guess it's one of those make or break situations...

[funkyfool]

yeah my brother dont know i read his blessing. and he's never read my blessing. i dont want to be close to my brother. hes a loser. we spent enough time close as kids. time to break apart.

[tiancum]

FUNKY FOOL

I LOVED YOUR POST...seriously, it shows you are on the right path. Remember pure hearts can be broken. (did you know that a broken heart is required to follow him?)

I am going to try and add my answers in bold.

i cut and pasted parts of yours

-I want to know who i am.

-I want to be assured....

-I want to know that regardless that my brothers is so similar to mine, that my blessing is FOR me...specifically for me

-i want to know the truth.

What beautiful things to want. Would you have wanted these things so badly if you didn't get the blessing you did? I promise you that you will get that if will let the Lord answer how he wants. He will answer in his way, the way that will touch your heart the most. Not the way you expect. Remember, you can;t take away his agency either. (/wink)

kinda askin too much though. im never gonna find out cause im not willing to find the answers for myself. im not even really sure how to find out the answers for myself.

NOPE, not askiin too much!

you don't have to find the answers yourself, ya just gotta ask, and know that he will answer... some of the most beautiful things that he will ever tell you. Your FATHER is going to talk to you. Because your PB guided you to this.

i thought my patriarchal blessing would give me answers. ( it gave you the promise of answers ) But now, im just more confused than ever.

All the confusion means is you haven't gotten the answers yet!!! They will come. I know they will...Hold on sister...hold on, the light will come.

I never should have gotten my patriarchal blessing.

NO WAY DUDE!!!! It prompted you to desire the things you desire more than ever. it is a guide, and that is exactly what it is doing, it is guiding you. I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU. I promise you, the answers will come, and they will beautiful. The depth of your hurt will be the height of your joy when you get the answers.

Your Father knows you, and knew that you would be hurt, and be a little mad, but that it would pass, and that it would spur you to listen. to want the answers even more.

They came for me, i didn't think i was worth it, not worthy, but he promised, and it HAPPENED...and it happens. It will happen for you.

[Heather]

Take it to your patriarch and ask him. We're not going to be much help when we aren't going to read both of them to see just how similar they are. My blessing talked about a lot of things that I'm just now seeing and still a lot of things that are probably going to happen much later on in my life. In fact my blessing mentions things that didn't make much sense at the time, but do now because those things have now been invented.

[a-train]

Funkyfool,

This sort of thing is actually normal. So normal in fact, there was an early 90's seminary video where a kid gets his blessing and goes back to ask the Elder if he was sure that it was inspired.

Read, Ponder, Pray. You cannot get what you seek from anyone but the Holy Spirit.

-a-train

[Guest tomk]

Tom, explain to me straight up, why it is that you think i shouldnt have gotten my patriarchal blessing.

Based on some statements you have made, including your own admission that you don't think you should have gotten it:

You said:

i thought my patriarchal blessing would give me answers. But now, im just more confused than ever. I never should have gotten my patriarchal blessing.

now that i think of it more, it was actually a great idea that i got my patriarchal blessing when i did. I received it at the exact right time. I actually held it close to me and let it guide me for a short period following receiving it.

So now you're glad you got it? Which is it?

it wasnt until just now, that i question that the strength i received from it....that the "strength" really was all just in my head. just a mind game. it wasnt the blessing, it was just me.

I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean.

If voices are telling you that the spiritual strength is "all in our head" then I would be wary of those voices.

I have posted what I thought were quite a few different (positive, faith-filled) ways of looking at this situation -- none of which you have decided to comment upon. You come here asking other imperfect mortals for advice and our thinking on the subject -- and then you turn around and revile when we take you up on your offer. If you really do not want our opinions, then you should not ask for it. Keep it to yourself, which is probably what you should have done. I would think that someone who was having a crisis of faith, as you alluded to in your original post, would welcome my words. Your reaction tells me that you were not **really** interested in receiving help from us, but instead you were trying to cast doubt and pull down our faith.

All I have ever really done, if you read my posts carefully, is point you to your Savior, and respond honestly and candidly to your situation. I don't think what you did or your behavior has been appropriate to this situation.

[Aphrodite]

Funky Fool, what that would tell me is that a Patriarchal blessing is from a man and not from God.

[Moksha]

Since I have joined the Church, no one in my ward has even suggested that I get a Patriarchal Blessing. My guess is that they are nonessential. Perhaps they are viewed less as a form of divination and more as a proforma rite for young adults.

[Vanessa2]

We are supposed to look at our PBs as revelation, just for us. In a sense, they are scripture just for us (if we are obedient and faithful). Just like with the scriptures, your PB will offer you different inspirations every time you read it. We all know what it's like to read a verse you've read 100 times before, except this time it means something different because of your experiences and where you're at in your life. It is the same thing with your PB. While it might seem generic now, you will have experiences in your life that as you read it, you will get inspirations that are just for you.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Since I have joined the Church, no one in my ward has even suggested that I get a Patriarchal Blessing. My guess is that they are nonessential. Perhaps they are viewed less as a form of divination and more as a proforma rite for young adults.

No they are certainly not just for young adults. It's a little bit odd but they aren't pushed at all and yet if the time is right for you you may come across them being mentioned in talks or in a lesson and then is the time to pray about it and see if the time is right for you, and talk to your Bishop and if he too feels it's right then he'll give you a recommend to go and receive yours. They aren't essential in the way that Baptism is but they can be extremely uplifting and encouraging as they are very personal and can help you in many different situations in life.

[WillowTheWhisp]

i really think thats an excellent idea. I just found this all out today. Today was the first time i had ever read my brothers patriarchal blessing. THe next time i see our stake patriarch, i will certainly talk to him. Of course he'll probably give me some sort of answer like "its what the lord inspired me to say, who am i to question"

but i dont really know. i guess ill just have to ask him. I still tend to think ill be let down by his reply.

i really think i need to find out the answer within myself. and with this supposed god that inspired the blessing to begin with.

like yall keep sayin, the patriarch is but a man. imperfect

Of course the Patriarch will say that is what the Lord inspired him to say - that's what a Patriarchal blessing is. The Patriarch himself may well be a fallible man but when he speaks on behalf of the Lord to pronounce on you your blessing then that blessing is not fallible because the Lord is not fallible.

When I first got my PB I was disappointed that it wasn't very long. Some people had told me theirs went on for pages so I was sad that the Lord didn't seem to have very much to say to me.

However, what he did say included some things which are exactly the same as my first husband received in his PB from a different patriarch at a different time, and some are very different. My daughter recently got hers and one bit of it just blew me away - and I assumed that it had some connection to her Dad's but when I read my late husband's again in conjunction with my daughter's it did not gel - then I read mine again and I was gobsmacked. It was ME he was referring to not her Dad. I just hadn't realised that bit before!

There was something in mine too which I just thought at the time referred to something which was already more or less over and done with, but if I'd been reading it on a regular basis it might have dawned on me that it also related to something more recent and it might have stopped me making a mistake I made a couple of years ago.

I was saddened to read the part of your post which says 'this supposed god' - if your faith is such that you question even the existence of God and his inspiration of the blessing then perhaps you were not fully spiritually prepared. I know I didn't really understand when my Bishop told me at the time to prepare myself to receive my blessing. I didn't think I needed to do any preparing. I thought that wanting one was all I needed but I have realised that I could have done more myself. Would that have made any difference to my blessing? Would it have been longer and more interesting? I do not know. I do know that Heavenly Father knows me as an individual and regards me as unique but also that some of the things he blesses me with or things he advises me or guidance he gives me are exactly the same that he gives to others. That happens in the scriptures too.

If I'd had a brother or sister (which I don't as I'm an only child) and our Patriarchal blessings had been almost identical I'd have thought more "Wow!" than "Huh?"

Please don't be annoyed with this penultimate thing I'm going to say. If there are things about your brother that you say you do not like, have you looked to see what faults you may also have that perhaps Heavenly Father also doesn't like?

And finally - why did you read your brother's blessing without his permission? I would not even read my daughter's without her permission.

[checkerboy]

Hey T

Just reading through this thread I thought I would mention that maybe you should take a look at D&C 15 and D&C 16. Tell me if you see anything wierd there. These were two revelations given to two brothers by the same man at the same time. Yet in the heading it states that the message is intimately and impressively personal. How can two people get the same personal message? Could it be that you and your brother have the same desires in life. Could it be that the Lord knows you both so well that He knows that you are both gonna experience similar things in life and that you both just might need similar words of guidance.

Things to ponder.

[DeafRM64]

Moksha:

You said "Since I have joined the Church, no one in my ward has even suggested that I get a Patriarchal Blessing. My guess is that they are nonessential. Perhaps they are viewed less as a form of divination and more as a proforma rite for young adults."

Patriarchal blessings are very essential. I"m sad that no one in your ward told you about patriarchal blessings and what they are. There are books that you can read and learn about patriarchal blessings. I suggest you talk to your bishop to get one.

[utcowboy]

I received my patriarchal blessing this past summer. I thought it would be a good experience and I suppose it was. There were a few things in the blessing that gave me the sense of "the church is right, im worth something, maybe the lord kinda understands me"

Then i also sorta got the sense that the blessing was somewhat generic. That it could be applied to anyone. But i convinced myself that a few things in there really were meant specifically for me.

Eventually i came to kinda think my blessing was special and something sacred to me.

Until today. HA! now i dont know what to think

I got the genius idea to read my brothers patriarchal blessing today. Given by the same patriarch but several years earlier. Turns out, our blessings are extremely similar. So similar to the point that there are literally paragraphs verbatim or very close to it.

THere are specifics in my blessing, spit out literally verbatim in my brothers blessing as well. things i thought were very specific, literally freaking exactly the same as my brothers.

Entire paragraphs. Id forget whos blessing i was reading. my brothers or mine. It twisted my mind.

what is going on? WHY are they almost exactly the same?

Is this just a test of my faith? the faith that im never sure i even had? is it satans way of trying to push me away from the church...because i admit thats the first thing thats coming to my mind. To push away. I feel like this is disproving the church. DIsproving any beliefs that i thought i had. Or is it really ...just that. That patriarchal blessings are bullcrap?...and i ought to just take it as it is...silly me...having been brainwashed my whole childhood that the chruch is true...just cant grasp the fact that its not true...

of course i know what you members of the church will say....

but i guess im really just open to suggestions.

im not a praying/fasting person. and i know thats also advice ill get. i dunno. give me advice. ill see what i do with it. but at the moment, im about ready to burn the patriarchal blessing and then go harrass the patriarch next time i see him.

First off, did you follow the advice of your bishop?? Did you fast before going to you meeting?? Did you pray to the Lord to help the Patriarch give you the guidance that you needed?

I am going to assume since you are not the praying/fasting type that you didn't do anything but show up. And you expected results without doing anything yourself. I'm sorry but it doesn't work that way, you have to put forth effort if you want answers, they just don't drop outta the sky. If you're not willing to do your part how can you expect the Lord to do his??

[utcowboy]

I want to know who i am. I want to be assured....that either it is a mistake in the patriarchal blessing. something wrong with the patriarch... or that the church just isnt true

I want to know that wow...its just some sort of weird coincidence...or something that the blessings are so similar,

I want to know that regardless that my brothers is so similar to mine, that my blessing is FOR me...specifically for me

i want to know the truth.

kinda askin too much though. im never gonna find out cause im not willing to find the answers for myself. im not even really sure how to find out the answers for myself.

i thought my patriarchal blessing would give me answers. But now, im just more confused than ever. i never should have gotten my patriarchal blessing

You seem to have answered you main question for yourself, to me thats a start in the right direction. When you are ready and you truely want to know the for yourself, you will be more willing to put forth the effort require to KNOW. I know from your posts that you are very mad and confused, and that you aren't the praying type, but maybe its time to get on your knees and ask your Father in Heaven what is true. What he wants from you?!!? My best wishes in your search, I hope with all my heart that you find the answers that you are seeking and that they point you back to your Heavenly Father.

[Gwen]

hey ff, i'll admit i've not read every post here, wow you get a discussion going fast (not that it surprises me that you could ) i did read all of your posts. without going into to much i do have a thought i think you should consider.

some things in life are facts. if A then B. will always be that way. god's laws are no different. we all get the same blessings for keeping the same commandments. we all have almost identical consequences for breaking or not keeping certian commandments. some things are just 2+2=4, always will be.

that being said, knowing you the way that i do, i know you and your brother have made some very similar life choices. you commented that his says he will go on a mission but he won't. all promises in a blessing are contengent on following the lord, if he doesn't follow he can't go, won't get the blessing. that is true. part of the reason he won't go is due to life choices that are very similar to some you have made. yes i know there are differences but if you are really honest with yourself not that different. as much as you want to break apart from your brother now (i know that feeling and may be what is best for you at this time) doesn't mean that the two of you aren't very similar, especially in those choices.

is it possible that you have tied the lord's hands so to speak? you make the same choices and then ask him to give you different promises or blessings? 2 and 2 doesn't equal 4 anymore?

you can allow outside forces to distract you from the feelings you had, you can choose to be upset about this, that is very much within your right. i can even follow how those feelings would and do come. i am by no means a perfect and maybe even not a good example of faith so i really do understand that feeling. or you can focus on how you felt at the time. you can take this matter to the lord, (yes that means humbling yourself enough to pray sinserly, i know we've discussed this before) and work this out with him.

also please don't rule out all the many many many blessings of comfort we can ask for in the course of our lives. yes pb's are special, yes they are typicaly a one time thing. but those blessings we can get in that imediate hour of need can sometimes touch us more than any other. there is no limit on how many we can receive or when. you don't have to go to your father for it, any worthy melch. preisthood holder can give you one. the bishop, the ym's pres, a good friend of the family, or if you talk to the patriarch about this even him. he can give any blessing anyone else can. if you respect him that much tell him how you feel and are struggling with it, ask him for a blessing of comfort.

most importantly, when it comes down to it the greatest answers will never come out of "mans" mouth. the greatest and most meaningful answers come straight from god the father in those hours of sinsere prayer. there is nothing i've ever received in a blessing that has meant as much to me as the direct revelation i've received in those moments of greatest need. give your heavenly father a chance.

you know i love ya hon,

gwen

[madjen38]

IMHO, PBs are such a subjective thing. Why, you ask? Because they involve mankind to administer them and they involve mankind (us/or womankind) to interpret them. That leaves all kinds of room for human error/failing. To think that our Patriarchs are void of error is sort of silly. To place such disporportional importance on the "words on the paper" is unwise. They can be a guide post and a reminder of who we are, where we came from and what we should be about. When I received mine, it was a pretty extraordinary experience for me. I still remember if vividly and that was 30 years ago. When I shared it with my sister, several years after, she commented on how generic it was and how robbed I was for a real blessing. WOW, I didnt feel robbed. There were several times when the patriarch had stopped, paused, and then what came out was and has been of huge importance to me. That's the key. Its yours. It is what you have. The GOOD news now, YOU have the direct line to know and understand daily what the Father wants and seeks for/from you. PUT YOUR TRUST in HIM and less on the paper. Oh dont get down on me for thinking I am discounting PBs, as I am not. I do think however, an overemphasis on any ONE thing can and will eventually bring us to a crossroads and a lesson to be learned.

[MorningStar]

your children let you read their blessings?

My brother received his blessing in october -03. i received mine July '07. same patriarch.

That would be interesting to see if he said the same things to everyone. If not, I think I would be amazed that he said such similar things to you and your brother 4 years apart. Maybe you and your brother are very similar spirits. :)

Didn't President Hinckley say that his blessing wasn't even a page long? Yet look at all the wonderful things that happened to him.

I've known people who have had patriarchal blessings they thought were mind blowing and others who were disappointed. My friend was disappointed because it hardly said anything but how she needed to be obedient. She doesn't understand why it doesn't say anything about her children, husband, mission, etc., but it could be because the other things might distract her from the counsel she needs the most, to be obedient.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Maybe you could talk to your bishop about your concerns? Please don't burn your blessing. :)

[Hemidakota]

Talk from President Boyd K. Packard.

The Stake Patriarch