I think that the person receiving the blessing has first dibs on the benefits of the spiritual experience. However, this whole situation gives a lot of food for thought and discussion–to me the more pertinent facts are:

a. she had two blessings in the first place
b. they were diametrically different

I think we can and must allow for all the differences in opinions, requests, and form in all areas of our church worship. They mustn’t detour from doctrine, but there sure is room for less rigidity.

I’m going to have to think on this for awhile.

I would be curious to know if the same person who was voice on the first instance was also the voice on the second, and also whether all participants in the circle were also involved the second time around. The faith of all parties involved informs the blessing, and certainly the knowledge, faith, and power in the priesthood of the acting voice combined with that of the recipient are to be considered. No doubt you could have each member of the circle be voice on the ordinance and get a variety of blessings and tones, all of which could be valid and appropriately dictated by the power of the Spirit through that individual to the recipient.

The main difference between public and private,as I see it, would be the effect that the prayers of faith from the congregation/attendees on behalf of the confirmed would also work to inform the blessing.

I got my pat. blessing when I was 15. Before the blessing, he checked the tape recorder and confirmed it was working. The blessing was nice, but after it was over all I remembered afterward was that it spoke quite a bit about how I would have really good physical health. I was so excited ’cause my mom had been sick my whole life and that was awful. A week later I got a call from the pat. requesting I come back for another blessing because the tape recorder malfunctioned and didn’t tape it. It was weird though, ’cause the blessings before and after mine on the same tape were fine, and my blessing did start out o.k., but after the opening sentences, it went blank until the very end.
On the second attempt it was a completely different blessing and had no comments on my health, etc.
I am now an old lady and have had my share of physical illnesses. I have to work at maintaining the good health I have. To me, it was a confirmation that we really are given the blessing meant for us. Of course, my perspective also fits nicely with my opinion that I am a rare bird in this old world.

Two things came to mind, livin in Zion. One is how the patriarch who gave Sarah her blessing got arrested for child porn right after he gave her her blessing. She still doesn’t know (not to worry, she never reads blogs). He gave her a very nice blessing. My neighbor got called to be the patriarch after him and I’ve asked him several times if she should get another blessing and he looks mystified and uncomfortable and I’ve never gotten a straight answer.

The other thing is once Ronald Poelman gave this really cool talk about Jesus. I can’t remember the exact words, but it was so forward thinking and I remember thinking, “Bravo!” as I watched him speak at general conference. Then when I got the Ensign, that part was totally changed. I was so upset, I wrote to Elder Packer (this was 30 years ago, guys) and he wrote back a rather snippy letter saying it was Elder Poelman’s decision to have it printed differently, which has always bothered me on several levels.

Off the subject, sorry, but that’s how my mind works today.

I’ll try to find the talk. It was controversial, I think, but I can’t remember why. Of course, the talk has been edited.

I’m not particularly bothered by the difference in tone between the two blessings. I have given my share of blessings (including confirmations) over the years — to family members, to friends, to ward members — and the Spirit would have to thwap me pretty hard over the head to get me to give a “ominous”, “warning” blessing to someone in such a public setting as Sacrament meeting. It just wouldn’t be appropriate. Even if I had those promptings, I would be inclined to simply take the person aside and ask if I could give another, private blessing later.

Remember in all this that a confirmation is just that — to confirm the newly-baptized person a member of the Church and to admonish them to receive the Holy Ghost. The ‘few words of blessing’ are not required at all; one could simply stop after the first two steps and close appropriately. ..bruce..

WMP,

In this case, however, I know that the patriarch’s wife was the one who did the typing (she wasn’t using a computer). I’m sure he reviewed it after she typed it, but he probably didn’t listen to the recording as he read through her typed transcript.

Oh my.

Bookslinger, I appreciated the way you worded that … I did not mean to say that the blessings were incongruent or contradictory – the focus in each of them was different.

I suppose each of us could get a blessing that is entirely positive and a blessing that was one of admonition/warning … and yet both blessings could be entirely true and accurate.