Did you know that yesterday was St. Andrew’s Day, which is an official national holiday in Scotland? In case you’re wondering, Saint Andrew is represented in the New Testament to be the disciple who introduced his brother, the Apostle Peter, to Jesus.

So whether you have Scottish blood or not, whether the bagpipes make you tear up from pain or delight, I hope this Scottish blessing will brighten your day and your week.

May the blessing of light be on you – light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, 
   so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it.
And may light shine out of the two eyes of you,
   like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer    come in out of the storm.
And may the blessing of the rain be on you,
   may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean,
   and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines,
   and sometimes a star.
And may the blessing of the earth be on you,
   soft under your feet as you pass along the roads,
   soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day;
   and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.
May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under  it quickly; up and off and on its way to God.

And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.