Our 6 year old is nervous about starting school tomorrow, so my husband offered to give him a blessing. He hasn't ever given our son a blessing before (which is weird, in retrospect, since he went to school last year, had surgery as a baby...). After, my little boy said to me that it felt really intense. I told him it was a way for him to bond with his dad (because what else am I supposed to say?). My little 6 year old trekkie responded that it was kind of like a mind meld. "Yes, kind of," I said, and left it at that.

So basically we could give a "blessing" of some sort that was secular in nature, yet inspiring. It would work just as well! At least for children, who haven't been taught yet that the magic can only come from Mormon God.

And it really was a secular sort of blessing. Yes, it started with the "by the power of the priesthood," but it also was "and as patriarch of this family." Nothing was religious, no mention of God or anything. As far as blessings go, not bad.