> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ciaran-murray.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Eighteen days in a row, and a drop of olive oil - URL: https://www.ciaran-murray.com/eighteen-days-and-a-drop-of-oil/ - Published: 2026-10-19T16:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T16:30:00.000Z - Description: A week ago today, my bishop and a friend from my ward gave me a blessing of health. After five years of grafting, I needed it. - Author: Ciaran Murray - Tags: People & Craft A week ago today, my bishop and a friend from my ward placed a drop of blessed olive oil on my head, laid their hands there, and gave me a blessing of health. I needed it. ## Five years of grafting in hospitality For five years, and especially the last few, I've grafted to climb the ladder in hospitality. More than one job at a time. Weeks of eighty hours and more. Eighteen days in a row. I felt unwell, and I pushed through it, until I couldn't. A shoulder injury has kept me quiet on LinkedIn and here for a few weeks. ![An empty stainless-steel bar counter after closing, with an ice machine, a glass rack and a bottle fridge.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7e/0c/7e0cc755-8e3f-401d-be56-1e2d9109123e/content/images/2026/10/empty-bar-at-4am.jpg) Just after four in the morning. ## Three blessings In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a member who is sick can ask for a blessing of health. Two men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood usually give it. One anoints the person's head with a drop of consecrated olive oil. Then they lay their hands on the head and "seal" the anointing with a blessing, as the Spirit guides. The practice goes back to the Letter of James: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church." My bishop and a friend from the ward gave me mine on Monday the 12th. ![A glass cruet of olive oil beside a pot of lavender on a candlelit table at dusk.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7e/0c/7e0cc755-8e3f-401d-be56-1e2d9109123e/content/images/2026/10/olive-oil-in-a-glass-cruet.jpg) Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash. The next day the missionaries came to see me and gave me a second blessing, of guidance, with the oil again. The Church calls this kind a blessing of comfort and counsel. And I went back to my patriarchal blessing. Each member is invited to receive one, from a patriarch ordained to serve their stake. The Church describes these blessings as "sacred and personal", so I won't share what mine says. I'll only say that I read it again. ## A week in the sun On the Wednesday, two friends took me out. After that, every day, a different member or family from the ward came and took me out. We had beautiful weather, with the sun shining down on my skin. I've prayed every day, asking for help and support, and every day my prayers have been answered. My physical and emotional pain eased within days. A camphor balm did its part for the shoulder, and the pain is fully gone now. I'll take it easy for another week or two and keep my head in my studies. In this trade we talk a lot about making people feel welcome. This week I was on the other side of it. ![A hand-coloured poster reading 'Today will be a great day', framed by crayon roses and leaves.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7e/0c/7e0cc755-8e3f-401d-be56-1e2d9109123e/content/images/2026/10/today-will-be-a-great-day-card-3.jpg) ## Sunday at the Cork Ward The Cork Ward meets in Wilton. Yesterday's sacrament meeting was filled with joyous music, and I sang to my heart's content. It was so refreshing, and so peaceful. Afterwards the young single adults' lessons were on the Old Testament and on fasting and prayer. The ward is full of people who support one another. I have always felt welcome and loved there, and it goes both ways. The Cork Ward will always have a special place in my heart. ![An open Book of Mormon beside a mug painted with bees and wildflowers.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7e/0c/7e0cc755-8e3f-401d-be56-1e2d9109123e/content/images/2026/10/bee-mug-and-scripture.jpg) I've been singing every day. I've just received next year's New Testament study guide, *Come, Follow Me: For Home and Church*, and I hope to teach the gospel in 2027, through music and storytelling. I want to get back to dancing too: bachata and Irish dancing are top of the list. To my bishop, the missionaries, and all the friends in the ward who supported me when I needed them: go raibh míle maith agaibh. ## Burnout in hospitality: don't take the eighteenth shift If you're in your first season and about to pick up an eighteenth shift in a row: don't do it. I love the rush of a high-volume service. What I'm learning in my thirties is that balance and lifestyle matter just as much, if you want it to last. Who will staff Highland hospitality is a question I've written about before, in [Who Will Pour the Dram? Staff, Visas and Highland Beds](https://www.ciaran-murray.com/highland-hospitality-staff-visas-housing/). Keeping the people we already have is part of the answer. ## The road north I have real clarity about the road ahead, and I'm praying on each decision as I continue to grow and heal: physically, mentally and spiritually. I keep thinking of the Footprints poem, and the stretch of sand with only one set of prints. Inverness is next, and I'm excited to start the next chapter of my life with the Lord as my guide. I've already been in touch with the bishop there, and I plan to sing every day. Long term, I want to put down roots like a vigorous apple tree that can weather any storm. And one day, a Scottish deerhound by the fire. ![A coal fire burning in a stone fireplace, with a clock and two small elephant ornaments on the mantelpiece.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7e/0c/7e0cc755-8e3f-401d-be56-1e2d9109123e/content/images/2026/10/coal-fire-in-the-grate.jpg) **Managers and owners:** what's one rota rule you never break, however busy it gets? Tell me in the comments on LinkedIn, or hit reply if this came to you by email. New here? My Monday stories and Thursday craft notes can come straight to your inbox: [subscribe free](https://www.ciaran-murray.com/highland-hospitality-staff-visas-housing/). *Sin é mo scéal.* ### Sources - [General Handbook, chapter 18: Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/18-priesthood-ordinances-and-blessings?lang=eng&ref=ciaran-murray.com), sections 18.13 (administering to the sick), 18.14 (blessings of comfort and counsel) and 18.17 (patriarchal blessings) - [Gospel Topics: Patriarchal Blessings](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/patriarchal-blessings?lang=eng&ref=ciaran-murray.com) - James 5:14 (King James Version)