Live Long and Prosper

“God bless you and keep you, God smile on you and gift you, God look you full in the face and make you prosper.” (Numbers 6:24–26, The Message)

This passage is called the “priestly blessing.” For the longest time, this passage was shared by priests to bless families. The priest gives the blessing using both hands to form the letter “Shin.” (This was the first letter in the Hebrew word “Shaddai” which means Almighty God.) The letter is formed by having both hands raised above the head to form a lattice. Tradition says that God looks through this lattice to bless the people, based on a verse in Song of Solomon:

“My love is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.” (Song of Solomon 2:9, HCSB)

It is also known today as the Vulcan greeting.

Leonard Nimoy recalled the story that when he was a boy, he looked up to see the priest giving the symbol of the Almighty God during the blessing. Nimoy took the symbol and the blessing and re-interpreted it for use with his character Spock on the television show “Star Trek”. The rest, as they say, is history. Therefore, I end this post with the following blessing for you based on this Bible verse and Nimoy’s interpretation:

May God bless you and live long and prosper!