Beatitudes Revisited

Brian Zahnd's paraphrase version of the Beatitudes. Very Interesting.

Blessed are those who are poor at being spiritual,
For the kingdom of heaven is well-suited for ordinary people.

Blessed are the depressed who mourn and grieve,
For they create space to encounter comfort from another.

Blessed are the gentle and trusting, who are not grasping and clutching,
For God will personally guarantee their share when heaven comes to earth.

Blessed are those who ache for the world to be made right,
For them the government of God is a dream come true.

Blessed are those who give mercy,
For they will get it back when they need it most.

Blessed are those who have a clean window in their soul,
For they will perceive God when and where others don’t

Blessed are the bridge-builders in a war-torn world,
For they are God’s children working in the family business.

Blessed are those who are mocked and misunderstood for the right reasons,
For the kingdom of heaven comes to earth amidst such persecution.

My church is studying the Beatitudes (Mathew 5:2-12) on Sundays. I find paraphrases like this to be very helpful in pulling out all the meaning from Jesus' very pithy sayings.

Peace, Meekness and Joy

Interesting comments at "Mount Jesus" Blog on Musing about Meekness. Something to think and pray about.

Quarreling is of course a product of unmeekness. Each one wants what he or she wants, and that they get it is the overriding concern. But our wants conflict, so the wants of one are set against the wants of the other. It gets extremely complicated and entangling, and frustration--frustrated desires--is the result. In our frustration we bring these desires to God--God, I want it, I want it bad, I've been wanting it for so long, please satisfy my desire!--we ask wrongly. Our wanting becomes a burden, and we want to be rid of wanting, and simply have what we desire, but of course this can never be. Sometimes I think what we really desire is the feeling of not wanting any more, but simply of having. Always having. Like someone who has come into a fortune suddenly, and can always have whatever he wants. So we play the lottery, or we cheat on our taxes, or we go into massive debt, or we quarrel in frustration within our own family, which is made up of other frustrated wanters. Oh who shall save me from this body of death?

The zen answer would be to quit wanting, I suppose, but good luck with that. The Bible answer is, rejoice in the Lord...

...See if you're anxious about nothing, it's going to change the way you pray. Instead of praying in the wrong spirit, out of our frustrated desire, we're praying out of our oneness in Christ, our rejoicing, and I would suggest certain kinds of long-time wants are just going to pale in that atmosphere, and we'll be praying with thanksgiving for what we've been given instead of out of frustrated desires. Amazing! And then the peace of God guards our hearts and minds!

The Beatitudes of Suffering & Brokeness

The blog formerly known as "In the Clearing" is now called "Wilderness Fandango." Blogger Bob has been producing some great posts lately, for example Wilderness Fandango: Processing the kingdom 3: The Beatitudes of Lack. This is his conclusion of a meditation on the beatitudes.

And here's the final point. What belongs to Jesus, even to his very nature, in some sense through my unity with him in faith, belongs to me. But unity with Christ does not mean victorious living in any sense that we usually understand it. The apostle Paul knew that it would mean unity with him in brokeneness, mourning, meekness, and hunger and thirst for righteousness. Paul's goal was to know Christ, and he knew that the fullest and most intimate form of that knowing would have to include a sharing in his suffering, even "becoming like him in his death."

Is it all beginning to pierce your heart yet? Because that's what's intended. If your God-view does not leave a lot of room for God to work his blessings through suffering and brokenness, then your God-view needs a rehab. And you know what? I can't do that for you. I can only point the way.

There. Over there. On a hill far away. Three crosses. A murderer. A thief. And the Son of God. Go there once again, and be made well.

Good stuff. I need to think on this one for a while.

I recommend Bob's blog to all my readers.