Godspeed

The etymology of Godspeed according to Wiktionary: From Middle English phrase God spede (“may God cause you to succeed”), from God (“god”) + spede, subjunctive of speden (“to prosper”), from Old English spēdan, fromspēd (“success”) 

We rarely use it today.  If and when we do use it, it hardly sets off any spiritual spark as it once had among people of faith.

John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress contains a farewell from Evangelist, bidding Godspeed to Christian and encouraging him to continue on his journey.  We see it in Fiddler on the Roof with the “Sabbath Prayer” scene, singing: “May God bless you and keep you.” It is common to our Christian benedictions, where we bid each other good tidings until we meet again as we quote Numbers 6:24-26.

We are familiar with such blessings as we part company, but we are far from doing them regularly.  We rarely do so other than as part of our liturgical program or format.  If nothing else, it is a sign to eager and fidgety children that church is almost over.  Sadly, we do not use such words when we part ways any longer.

If we understood what it meant, would we wish our brother or sister in Christ Godspeed?

Do we really want other Christians to succeed right before our own eyes and in our midst?

Can we praise God for Him blessing someone else despite all of our prayers, petitions and supplications for the same thing for ourselves?

I ask us to ponder such a thing.  I wish us to seek the Lord’s direction in how we deal with one another.  In all these things, I bid you Godspeed.