I remembered an occurrence today; it happened a few years ago when I was leading a cross-cultural team in Bulgaria. We were waking through a mountain town on a very hot day and came upon an old Moslem woman. She brought us all cold water and chatted a bit with Vlady (our Bulgarian logistics fellow).
As we left, she said something that returns often in my memory:
“May all your villages be blessed.”
I’m giving some thought to the power of blessings; in many cultures the hex or curse is considered a powerful statement. However, I think a blessing must be the most potent words any human can speak.