Of The Empire The Beatitudes

Of The Kingdom Blessed are the rich and famous, for everything in the empire is theirs. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who are funny, for they will be the life of the party. Blessed are those who mourn (with others), for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who are aggressive for they will get what they want. Blessed are the meek, (strong, but gentle) for they will inherit the earth Blessed are those who seek success, for they won’t let any-thing else fill their minds. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merci-less, for no-one can stand in their way. Blessed are the merci-ful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the politic, they will always see an angle. Blessed are the pure in heart, they will see God. Blessed are the war-makers and arms-dealers, for they will be called ‘good businessmen’. Blessed are the peace-makers, for they (alone) shall be called the children of God. Blessed are those who never stand up for the right and risk alienating the powers-that-be, for theirs is nice, quiet life. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ]]> http://wecan.be/beatitudes-with-attitude/1267/feed/ 0 http://wecan.be/beatitudes-with-attitude/1265/ http://wecan.be/beatitudes-with-attitude/1265/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:56:43 +0000 dave http://wecan.be/?p=1265 John Dear

Open your Bible to Matthew 5 and you will never be the same. Gandhi and King called those passages the grandest manifesto of nonviolence ever written—beginning with the storied Beatitudes. Grand for a number of reasons—for their poignancy and conciseness, for their sheer poetics, for their morality and practicality. But grand, too, for a subtle reason—for the furtive critique that lay behind them. Namely, every culture of war, such as Jesus lived and died in, fuels itself by an antithetical set of maxims. One might name them–“anti-beatitudes.”

They are easily reconstructed, because, alas, they’re all too familiar. We’ve been tutored in them all our lives; they hang in the air, live in our very bones. This false spirituality of violence, injustice and war is what Jesus spoke out against:

• “Blessed are the rich, the reign of this world is ours.” Empirically the rich rule the world, and the rest suffer and die, often in misery. But Jesus counters with the real truth. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who have nothing—no power, no prestige, no possessions, no success. They receive the first and greatest blessing—entrance into God’s reign. The rich lay claim to all things, except that. Thus Jesus calls us to live in friendship with the poor, to let go of power and domination, to embrace our own powerlessness. Which is to say, share our lives with the poor, practice downward mobility, and they’ll share with us the reign of God.
• The Pentagon’s chief tenet: “Blessed are those who make others mourn.” Those who kill, who support war, who pay taxes for killing, who build nuclear weapons, who execute people—blessed are they, the Pentagon insists. More, blessed are you if you never mourn. But Jesus sets this anti-beatitude right. He says, blessed are the billions who mourn their loved ones lost to starvation, injustice, relievable disease, and war—from Hiroshima and Vietnam to El Salvador and Iraq. God’s consolation will flow to them. As for us, mourning leads to peacemaking. As we mourn with those who mourn, we receive God’s consolation. Otherwise no comfort will be ours.
• And the motto of every warlike culture: “Blessed are the violent and the invincible, the proud and the powerful, the domineering and oppressive. But Jesus says the meek are blessed—the gentle, the humble, the nonviolent. The violent inherit nothing but blood and destruction. The meek, they inherit the earth. Pursuing nonviolence wins the blessing of creation itself. As St. Francis discovered, creation and nonviolence are inextricably linked.
• “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for injustice.” The siren song of the System. The System sustains itself by all manner of injustice and lawlessness and greed. But Jesus offers a contrary word. Desire for unjust gain shall forever thwart fulfillment. The unjust will never be satisfied. But those who are passionate for justice, they’ll find satisfaction, true meaning. They’ll take part in God’s very purpose—the transformation of disarmament and global peace.
• “Blessed are those who show no mercy.” So the culture summons us. No mercy to the poor, to women and children, the elderly and the homeless, victims, outcasts, enemies, refugees, the hungry, the undocumented, the unborn, those on death row, those who are different, those we don’t like. But the culture keeps the spiritual consequence close to its vest: The merciless will be shown no mercy. On the other hand, says Jesus: God’s mercy comes to the merciful.
• “Blessed are the impure of heart.” The warlike culture tells us that it does not matter if we are filled with darkness and confusion and violence. But such darkness, says Jesus, shades our view of God. It obscures our recognition of Christ in the poor, in the enemy, in one another. Rather “Blessed are the pure in heart”—those with disarmed hearts, nonviolent hearts, hearts of universal love. To attain such wholehearted love, we must practice contemplative prayer, turn our violence over to God and receive in return God’s gift of peace. Thus illumined by the light of God, we’ll see God in the poor, in the struggle for justice, in the bread and the cup, in creation, in the poor, in the enemy. The pure in heart will see God. The beatific vision will begin here and now.
• “Blessed are the warmakers.” Thus say the Pentagon and its chaplains. No, says Jesus. “Blessed are the peacemakers”—those who help end war and the conditions for war, who create peace. They are sons and daughters of the living God. Peace is God’s purpose for humanity. God is a God of peace. Since we are God’s children, we make peace, too. The warlike culture tries to name us its patriots, warriors, “good” Americans. It wants to tell us who we are. But Jesus tells us the truth: we are the beloved sons and daughters of the God of peace. That means, like Jesus, we act according to the God of peace, practice nonviolence, resist war, demand that the troops come home from Iraq, and try to live and breathe the holy Spirit of peace.
• “Blessed are those who never stand up for justice, who do not rock the boat.” The silent, the indifferent, the comfortable, those who keep their distance. Blessed are you—you’ve made it! You’ll ruffle no feathers and invite no trouble—but neither will you possess the reign of God. The reign of God belongs to those “persecuted for the sake of justice.” In a world where war and nuclear weapons run wild, peacemakers get no thanks, no honors. They’re harassed, threatened, put under surveillance, arrested, jailed, even killed. But Jesus says, this is your opportunity to practice nonviolence, to meet hatred with love—just like the prophets and saints. So Jesus declares: “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward will be great in heaven.” Do we draw heat for our work against poverty, the death penalty, nuclear weapons. the war on Iraq? Take heart—rejoice and be glad. We’re on the right path. We are joining the ranks of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. King, Dorothy Day, Archbishop Romero, and Sister Ita Ford.

Recently, however, I learned that some scholars are rethinking the original Greek translation. The passive “Blessed are…” is not accurate, they say. Better the more active phrase: “Walk on! Walk forth!” If true, it rings a different tone, a tone of doggedness, support, encouragement. God cheers us on that we might go the distance in pursuit of justice and peace. Something along these lines:

• Walk forth, you poor in spirit, you humble and powerless. Keep going. Don’t be discouraged by your poverty. The reign of God is yours.
• Walk forth, you who mourn the victims of war and hunger. Keep going. You will be consoled.
• Walk forth, you meek and gentle and nonviolent. Inherit the earth and enjoy the blessing of creation.
• Walk forth, you who hunger and thirst for justice. Don’t give up. You will be satisfied. “Justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
• Walk forth, you merciful. Keep showing mercy in a merciless world. Forgive everyone. Be compassionate to everyone. Show mercy to everyone. Mercy will be yours.
• Walk forth, you pure in heart. Keep going. Be filled with the light of peace and see Christ in the poor, in the enemy, in one another.
• Walk forth, you who make peace. Keep on going. Speak against war. Organize peace vigils. Write Congress, demand the troops come home, work for nuclear disarmament. Become who you are, the sons and daughters of the God of peace.
• Walk forth, you persecuted for justice. Keep going. Don’t give up. You stand on the shoulders of Dr. King, Dorothy Day and Mahatma Gandhi. Your reward will be great.

Here are the Beatitudes of Peace, uttered contrary to the anti-beatitudes of war that pulse through the veins of our culture. If we follow these guideposts, hear this encouragement, we learn, the Gospel teaches, that the God of peace is alive and at work among us–giving us God’s reign, God’s consolation, God’s creation, God’s satisfaction, God’s mercy, God’s face, God’s calling us her daughters and sons, and God’ best reward. In other words, take heart. God is leading us into the fullness of life, a life of peace. There really is good news after all.

www.fatherjohndear.org/NCR_Articles/Nov21_06.html

Jesus turned to the ones on his left and he will say:
“Depart from me you who are accursed. For I was hungry, but you didn’t give me anything to eat. So we grew our own food, but we had to sell it into the international trading system, using the money to pay off our debts to your country. We had little left to eat.

“For I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. So we found a water table and drilled a well. But Coca Cola Amatil came to our city and outbid us for access to our own water. They use it to make your Coca Cola. They outbid us with the profits they made from selling you their product.

“I was imprisoned in my own country, so I fled in desperation with nothing except the money that I was able to get in exchange for everything I ever owned. I managed to get to your country, even though the people smugglers told me I was going to England! When I got to your country, you put me into another prison. But you call yours a detention centre?

“I was naked, and you did not clothe me. So we had to find work in order to buy our own clothes. I found work, in a factory. I worked every day from 7am till 9pm with very few breaks, 7 days a week. It was hard work. I rarely got to see my family, life was very hard. This kind of life made me very sad. The factory I worked in made clothes that were sold to you.

“I was sick. I agonized as many of my family, friends and especially the children in my community died from things like diarrhoea and simple infections. I was afraid I too would die in this horrible way. Day after day, month after month, year after year. This happened whilst every now and then, you would give thanks to your God for your health.

“I was homeless and I read in one of your Christian books that if I applied myself and worked hard enough, I could have whatever I could conjure up enough faith for. I have been praying and believing for a home for my family. I cannot wait for God to answer that prayer.

“I was lonely, hoping for someone to visit. Often I saw your aeroplanes flying overhead. I suspect that you were probably on your way to London, or Paris to see things that were very important and special.

“You seemed so blessed with so many things. You must be very holy for God to bless you with so many good things. I am still very hungry and lonely and cold.

Then he will turn to the ones on his right, and he will say:
“Come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world.

“For I was hungry, and you decided to prioritise environmental sustainability and the just nature of trade regarding the food you eat. When you made your food producers and manufacturers accountable to the way they treat me and the planet on which I try to grow my own food, you slowly but surely made a difference in my life and the life of my family.

“When I was thirsty, you heard my cry and sacrificially gathered some of God’s wealth and resources and gave them to me so that I could build a well in my community. Your simple sacrifice and concern for me and my family made a huge difference in the life and health of our community.

“I was naked and you were outraged. You demanded that the corporations from whom you purchased your own clothing treated me with justice. I was able to form a trade union and campaign for good working conditions. I was able to work and to rest and recreate because of your concern and action. You now have to pay a little bit more for your own clothing, but that does not concern you for now people are more important to you than money.

“I was sick with preventable diseases, and this filled you with remorse. You decided that you would give some of your monthly income regularly to programs that helped to improve the quality of my life, and that of my family and friends. In your monthly budget, you made sure that you remembered me always, for the remainder of your life.

“I was homeless, and you knew that this was wrong. You opened your home to me, sharing a room, meals, tears, time, frustrations, patience and love with me. It was uncomfortable for you; however you gave much and learned much about yourself, about God, and about our common humanity.

“I was lonely. But so were you, trapped in a world where you needed to be constantly entertained and stimulated. As you broke free from your materialistic prison, we found each other. We talked, and listened to one another, we spent time getting to know each other, and ourselves. In your act of reaching out, you became more human than you realised possible.

And the ones on his right said to the King:
“Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked, sick or lonely and in prison?

And the King answered:
“Whatsoever you did to the least of these, you did it to me.”

Step One – Pray for the ones whose life’s no fun.

Step Two!

Step Two – If they’re abused, weep with ‘em too.

Step Three!

Step Three – Wait and see what help you can be.

Step Four!

Step Four – Talk right? Act right? All right? Sure!

Step Five!

Step Five – Be nice and kind to every child alive.

Step Six!

Step Six – Don’t play tricks. Kids aren’t for kicks.

Dtep Seven!

Step Seven – Make peace on earth, as in heaven.

Step Eight!

Step Eight – Strive to be brave in the face of hate!

Repeat.

The Be-Attitudes For Kids ( Matthew 5.1-10 ) -

Dave Andrews.  Adapted from Vicki Jones Cole

http://www.csfirstlessons.com/csfirstlessons_081.htm

If I had to summarise the Beatitudes, this would be it. Jesus was speaking directly, I’ve come to believe, to a bunch of tired, worn-out, down-and-out, poor people. People a lot like our neighbours.

We’ve spent the last 14 years living in poor neighbourhoods in Delhi. In the last five years we’ve been in Janta Colony. It’s an illegal colony, built on government land in the east of the city. Its illegal status means that it could be bulldozed at any time to make way for a hospital, a bus terminus or even a Commonwealth Games venue! Despite the vulnerability of living in a place that could be gone tomorrow, people like our friends Gulo, Babu and Shaheen and their family continue to flock to Janta Colony from villages surrounding Delhi because they can still earn more in the city than in their village. They can’t afford the 3,000 rupee ($100) a month or so it would cost to rent a place in a legal suburb, so they come to Janta Colony or another of the hundreds of colonies like it.

Janta Colony is now home to about 100,000 people, housed in tiny rooms, many without natural lighting or ventilation. The whole colony sits on about a tenth of a square kilometre. That’s a population density of about one person per square metre! (On Google Earth, Janta Colony is wrongly named as Subash Park, Delhi. Notice the lack of observable streets and blocks compared to the surrounding suburbs.)

So it’s in Janta Colony that we’ve made our home and made friends. We live here to try to understand a little of what life is like for our poor neighbours, the type of people Jesus may well have pronounced the Beatitudes to today. People like Shayra, a widow friend who was thrown out of her shack because she couldn’t afford the rent. People like Kaneez whose baby daughter died a year or so ago, probably of diarrhoea, and whose husband died not long after, probably of TB. Some real faces on the otherwise faceless list of 45,000 people a day who die of preventable diseases.

When our Janta Colony friends face the tough times of life, as they do so much more often than our Australian friends, we try in small ways to respond. We often fail, but our attempts have, we hope, brought at least some good news to some. In a way I suppose, we’re attempting to be the flesh and blood ‘blessing’ which Jesus assures to the poor.

After Kaneez’s husband died, we knew she was almost totally without support. Friends and neighbours, despite their own poverty, would give leftover food each night to feed her and her remaining three kids. She should have been entitled to a widow’s pension from the Delhi Government, but with no bank account, no identity documents and no death certificate, she didn’t have a chance. So, together with other friends, we’ve helped to get the necessary documents together and, after a year of struggle, eventually the pension came through.

But the real heroes are, as Jesus says, the people who, despite adversity, continue to bring peace and hope amidst the despair around them, for little reward or recognition. People like our 13-year-old friend Saba, who despite her own struggles, graciously looks after her younger sister for much of the day. And people like Kallu, who struggled hard to help his neighbours during their colony’s demolition. For such efforts, we the foreigners have articles published in magazines like Target, but Kallu simply got on with it and in return got suspicion and scorn from the very people he was helping.

So for the Shayras, the Kaneezes, the Sabas and the Kallus, here are Jesus’ wonderful words, retold for our friends in Janta Colony:

Jesus stood on the bridge near Janta Colony in East Delhi and said to the masses gathered around:

Blessed are the old women like Shayra, who are ground down by pain and poverty; for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Blessed are the widows like Kaneez, who grieve the loss of their husbands and kids; for they’re the ones who’ll be comforted.
Blessed are the young men like Babu, who work hard without fuss for their family’s survival; for they’re the ones who’ll receive a share of the earth.
Blessed are the girls like Gulo, who are still upset by the violence and suffering they see; for they’re the ones who’ll have their longings satisfied.
Blessed are the big kids like Saba, who could easily be bullies, but instead look after their little bothers and sisters; for they’re the ones who’ll experience mercy themselves.
Blessed are the young women like Shaheen, who stay honest in a corrupt world; for they’re the ones who’ll see God.
Blessed are the young men who step in to stop the teenagers brawling; for they’re the ones who’ll be known as the children of God.
Blessed are the men like Kallu, who help their neighbours while their slum is getting demolished and get blamed for their trouble; for the Kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are the people like you when you cop slander, abuse and lies because of your stance for me.
Celebrate, laugh in the face of it all, for there is a grand reward waiting for you in the heavens.

www.tear.org

Blessed are the paranoid,
for they will realise they were right all along

Blessed are those who are cursed by bad luck,
for their number will finally come up

Blessed are those willing to go the second mile,
for they will get a lift

Blessed are the welcoming and friendly,
for they will be welcomed by many friends

Blessed are they who find they cannot believe,
for they will find honesty is a fruit of the Spirit

Blessed are those who find the poetry in religion,
for they will find a divine rhyme in the ordinary and everyday

Blessed are those who use foreign names for God,
for one day we will all speak in tongues.

Blessed are those who see Love in the eyes of the forgotten,
for they will find Love gazing back at them

Blessed are those who have lost their life,
for they will find Life comes looking for them

Blessed are those with a roof over their heads,
food on the table, work that rewards and friends to rely on,
for there isn’t much more anyone can ask for

Blessed are all of us who are found wanting,
for we will be found wanted.

Martin Wroe Can You Hear the Music? Numinous Press 2007 (edited)

Blessed are the meek who scratch in the dirt
For they shall inherit what’s left of the earth
Blessed are the kings who’ve left their thrones
They are buried in this valley of dry bones

Blessed all of you with an empty heart
For you got nothing from which you cannot part
Blessed is the ego, it’s all we got this hour
Blessed is the voice that speaks truth to power

Blessed is the sex worker who sold her body tonight
She used what she got to save her children’s life
Blessed are you, the deaf cannot hear a scream
Blessed are the stupid who can dream

Blessed are the tin canned cardboard slums
Blessed is the spirit that overcomes.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi

http://www.parablesofaprodigalworld.com/2007/12/beatitudes-according-to-bono-dallas.html

Adapted from Saju C Varghese;

http://1stholistic.com/Reading/prose/A2007/beatitudes-of-marriage.htm

A Rhyme by Vicki Jones Cole

Step One……. Ask God’s help to get it done.

Step Two……. Cry boo hoo!

Step Three…. Get down on bended knee.

Step Four……. Hunger for goodness evermore.

Step Five……. Be kind to all alive.

Step Six………..Keep evil out of the mix

Step Seven…. Stop all fighting, child of heaven.

Step Eight…… Be brave if attacked by hate.

Step Nine……. With the prophets, stand in line.

http://www.csfirstlessons.com/csfirstlessons_081.htm

Blessed are those parents who make their peace with spilled milk and with mud, for of such is the kingdom of childhood.
Blessed is the parent who engages not in the comparison of his child with others, for precious unto each is the rhythm of his own growth.
Blessed are the fathers and mothers who have learned laughter, for it is the music of the child’s world.
Blessed and wise are those parents who understand the goodness of time, for they make it not a sword that kills growth but a shield to protect.
Blessed and mature are they who without anger can say “no”, for comforting to the child is the security of firm decisions.
Blessed is the gift of consistency, for it is heart’s-ease in childhood.
Blessed are they who accept the awkwardness of growth, for they are aware of the choice between marred furnishings and damaged personalities.
Blessed are the teachable, for knowledge brings understanding, and understanding brings love.
Blessed are the men and women who in the midst of the unpromising mundane, give love, for they bestow the greatest of all gifts to each other, to their children, and—in an ever-widening circle—to (the human family).

The Beatitudes for Parents were written by Marion E. Kinneman (1895-1985) about 40-45 years ago. Marion wrote this piece specifically for her two daughters to assist them in the raising of her six grandsons. They were first published in Family Circle magazine, and have been reprinted numerous times since. Marion was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1895. She graduated from Bloomsburg State College in 1913; in 1922 became the Assistant Dean of Women at West Chester State College. She married John A. Kinneman in 1924; they relocated to Normal, Illinois where my John was the head of the Sociology Department at Illinois State University. Marion E. Kinneman died in 1985.
© 2001 Steve Goodier

James Alison
p42-43 Knowing Jesus (edited)

James Alison