Verbatim quote from an actual Patriarchal Blessing...

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Boy, I am glad I am not a patriarch. I can imagine that every once in a while, I would think to myself, "well, I sure wasn't on my game today. Yikes."

I do have a lot of respect for the office of patriarch. That's why I never want to occupy it.

It's one aspect of Mormonism that has always mystified me. Upon first joining it appeared to be an aspect of fortune telling. Now I mostly view it as good counsel and goal setting. Of course, mine was relatively generic.

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Boy, I am glad I am not a patriarch. I can imagine that every once in a while, I would think to myself, "well, I sure wasn't on my game today. Yikes."

I do have a lot of respect for the office of patriarch. That's why I never want to occupy it.

Plus there's only one way out of it.

[SoonerCoug]

Originally Posted by Archaea

It's one aspect of Mormonism that has always mystified me. Upon first joining it appeared to be an aspect of fortune telling. Now I mostly view it as good counsel and goal setting. Of course, mine was relatively generic.

Mine was very short. It was the first patriarchal blessing given by this old man, and he was nervous, and I cried the whole time because I thought it was weird. The written blessing is about two paragraphs, suggesting a short existence. No mention of marriage or a mission. Since I've done both (the former twice), I assume this means I have exceeded my patriarch-estimated life expectancy.

[malapert]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Plus there's only one way out of it.

LOL...excellent point!