This set me thinking about how we generally end a conversation or give a parting greeting other than "goodbye".
While the standard phrase used across the world is "God bless you", what my friend said (God blesses you) is not wrong, just not used.
When I say "God bless you" to someone, I am wishing him blessings from God above. I want him to enjoy life and all that God has for him. Of course, the complete and correct form of the greeting should be "May God bless you". People, being the lazy or efficient people that we are, have conveniently dropped the "may", but the intention and the good wishes remain intact.
"God blesses you", on the other hand, is in a different tense altogether. What my friend is trying to tell me is that God does bless me. (He does too!) His intention is to ask God to bless me, but what has emerged is a fact: that God blesses me. Either way, I receive the blessing.
Non-native speakers of English sometimes have funny ways of expressing themselves. What they say can be hilarious, yet sometimes so poetic. In this case, what my friend has said is true, and I would wish that on anyone I meet, simply because God does bless and wants to bless people!
So, may God bless you and God blesses you today!
Have fun with languages!
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