Saturday I was cutting the grass and listening to Dawes, one of my favorite bands these days.  They have a song that reminds me of Dylan's "Forever Young" because of the way it is constructed to express a blessing or a series of well-wishes in the life of another.

Here are excerpts from the two sets of lyrics:

What struck me is that while I like both songs, they are focused on entirely different planes within a person's life.  The lyrics by Dawes focus on circumstances, while Dylan's lyrics are more character-based.

We need to bless those around us - speaking words of genuine affirmation and visions of a future that is reflective of shared values.  Sometimes our blessings are of the "may your brother's El Camino run forever" variety, and sometimes they are a bit more substantive: "May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong."  Likely there's a place for each, but my hope is that my legacy will be more of the Dylan variety because, in the end, we know that our favorite bands rarely stay together.

One final encouragement: Combine the lofty view of Dylan with the concrete examples of Dawes to express a truly powerful blessing.  In other words, don't just speak aspirations ("may you grow up to be righteous"), but let those you are blessing hear the specific behaviors you see that are indicative of progress toward those aspirations ("I know it was tempting to keep that extra money the clerk mistakenly refunded, but I'm proud of you for doing the right thing and returning it").