The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn . . . for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek. . .  for they shall inherit the earth.  (Meek - humble, gentle, or mild.  It does not mean easily cowed or taken advantage of.)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness . . . for they shall be satisfied.  (Righteous - behaving in a manner that conforms to the standards of God . . . or a Higher Power or in something greater than ourselves.  An impossible standard but a goal that I can aspire to reach.)

Blessed are the merciful . . . for they shall obtain mercy.  (Mercy - forgiving or withholding punishment.)

Blessed are the pure in heart . . .  for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers . . . for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are those who suffer persecution for righteousness sake . . . for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

These are the Beatitudes that were part of a sermon given by Jesus called the Sermon on the Mount.  I have a lot of resistance to wisdom that is found in conventional religious texts.  I'm not entirely sure why.  Suspicion, ignorance, a need to swim against the current, a tendency to compare these texts to flawed people on earth that I see as behaving in a hypocritical fashion . . .   But if you strip out the context you can find some really good shit.

To be blessed when I'm mourning or suffering from a wounded, wanted spirit or being persecuted    . . .  how comforting is that?  To be blessed when I'm humble or reducing conflict and animosity or being merciful . . . I mean, c'mon!  All I have to do is not be an asshole and I get blessed?  And how about a blessing just for aspiring to purity and attempting to hold myself to an impossibly high standard?  Give it a shot and I'm blessed?  Wow.  Gimme some more of this stuff.

When I visited Israel we went to the Sea of Galilee and visited a small, old church where Jesus is reported to have preached the Sermon on the Mount that included the Beatitudes.  It was very quiet and there was a beautiful walled garden that looked down on the water far below.  I was able to strip out the overtly religious overtones and enjoy the peace of the location and contemplate the beauty of the spirit behind the words.  It was quite an experience.