Depend on God. Don’t let material things get in the way of loving God and others.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Share other people’s sorrows and joys.  Don’t sent yourself apart from others.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Learn to be gentle with people and things.  Don’t try to get your way by violence or bullying.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Work hard to make sure that all people are treated justly.  Do what you can to change unjust conditions.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Forgive others and ask their forgiveness.  Let compassion, not anger, rule your life.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.

Turn your attention only toward what is good and right.  Be faithful to God and God’s ways.

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

Work to bring people together.  Don’t contribute to quarrels and fights.  Look for ways to solve problems peacefully.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

In difficult times, keep trusting in God and standing up for what is right.

http://iccreligiouseducation.com/the_beatitudes.cfm

The Beatitudes, those sayings of Jesus that make up part of his Sermon on the Mount, are the heart of his teaching on the kingdom of God. But I would guess that whether you are a believer or not, you would probably have rarely, if indeed ever, have heard a sermon on these most famous of Jesus’ sayings.

Throughout the 2,000 years of Christian history, there have been few people who have really taken the Beatitudes seriously as ethical guidelines. Dave Andrews offers a reason for this. He says that the Beatitudes are rarely taught in churches. And when they have been taught, more than likely people will hear that they are not to be taken literally because they are too unrealistic and can never work in the ‘real world’. This is such a common response amongst preachers that one of the most famous movie lines of all time takes it off. Check out this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xLUEMj6cwA

However when you look at the people over the years who have taken the Beatitudes literally, people like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, these are the people who have made a real difference in the world and lived the Beatitudes out in their own lives. Other people who have lived them out in different ways have been Nelson Mandela, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa, and Oscar Romero.

However it is not just the Beatitudes that have been misquoted and misinterpreted. The whole Sermon on the Mount has been taken this way, to the extent that it is pretty much ignored by many Christians. There is a scene in the movie Gandhi  which expresses this in a way that brings shame on the Christian church. When Gandhi meets clergyman Charlie Andrews, he asks Andrews to walk with him, and pretty soon they are both faced with a real life situation in which the reality of the Sermon on the Mount is put to the test. As they are about to walk down a laneway (remembering that this is in 1890s South Africa, when apartheid is in full swing), they are both confronted by three white young men who pour scorn on the fact that a white man is walking with a coloured man such as Gandhi. Andrews quickly suggests they perhaps go a different way, but Gandhi reminds him that the New Testament says that if someone strikes you on the right cheek, to offer him the left as well. The Christian clergyman then displays the attitude that we have seen too often in the Western church: he stutteringly tries to explain that Jesus didn’t really mean these things literally; they are more to be taken metaphorically. Gandhi though, says he is not so sure, explaining that what Jesus meant was that we must display courage, and in doing that, we will earn the respect of the oppressor but also not be pushed aside. So, as they approach the young men, the larger one tells Gandhi in no uncertain terms to get out of the neighbourhood. As he does so, he is pulled up by his mother who asks from the floor above their house what he is up to. As his mother tells the young man to get on to work, Gandhi looks him intently in the eyes and calmly exclaims, “you will find there is room for us all.”

What this exchange shows is that the Beatitudes are not some fluffy teachings of Jesus that are fine in an ideal world but can never be applied in real life. To the contrary, when lived out in the here and now, they change the world. The Beatitudes take enormous courage to put into practise. They are not to be taken metaphorically at all. Nor are they, as those on the more liberal side sometimes say, to be taken as statements by which we attain a salvation by works. Neither position takes Jesus seriously enough. And I reckon that’s why everyone knows how many commandments there are but most Christians wouldn’t know how many Beatitudes there are (there are 8).

In this scene from Gandhi, the Indian leader – the non-Christian – lives out what Jesus said. The problem for Gandhi though was that he so respected Jesus that, as John Dear points out, he could never understand why Christians didn’t obey their Master. For over fifty years, Gandhi asked Christian friends. “Why do Christians go about saying ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do the will of Jesus? Why don’t they obey the Sermon on the Mount, reject war, practice nonviolence and love their enemies?”

Gandhi once said that the Sermon on the Mount was the greatest teaching that has ever been given, but he decided not to become a Christian mainly because of Christians. Something else he said, which is just a great an indictment on us in the church, was that everyone knows what Jesus meant in the Sermon on the Mount except Christians. I would qualify that last statement and say ‘Western Christians’. Because for the first 300 years of the Christian church, the Sermon on the Mount was its guiding ethical framework. And look at the impact the church had in those days. It was only when Constantine became Emperor and Christianity became the official State religion of the Roman Empire and aligned itself with the powers, that it suddenly became impractical to oppose the State when it came to such teachings as ‘blessed are the peacemakers’, ‘love your enemy’ and ‘do good to those who persecute you.’ We have so lost sight of the message of the Sermon on the Mount that we now see bumper stickers like the one which states ‘When Jesus said “love your enemies,” I think he probably meant don’t kill them.’

While there has been a shift in the church over the last 20 years or so (and the above-mentioned bumper sticker was actually from a church in the US) sadly not a lot has changed since the time of Constantine. The church today generally lives by a different set of ‘Beatitudes’, as brilliantly expressed by Joe Abbey-Colborne

Blessed are the well off and those

.with ready answers for every spiritual question;

.they have it all.

Blessed are the comfortable;

.they shall avoid grief.

Blessed are the self-sufficient;

.they wait for nothing, they have everything they want,

.and they have it now.

Blessed are those who are not troubled by

.the injustice experienced by others;

.they are content with realistic expectations.

Blessed are the ones who gain the upper hand;

.they take full advantage of their advantages.

Blessed are those with a solid public image

.and a well hidden agenda;

.they are never exposed and see people

.in a way that suits their purposes.

Blessed are those who can bully others into agreement;

.they shall be called empire builders.

Blessed are those who can point to someone else

.who is a worse person than they are,

.they will always look good by comparison.

Blessed are you when people praise you, give you preferential treatment, and flatter you because they think you’re so great. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because it doesn’t get any better than this.

This is the way our church has always made celebrities of the best and brightest.

As with anything like this, I need to ensure first and foremost that I am not falling into the trap of living such a smug life. The fact is that I still tend to spiritualise the Beatitudes, living as if they are good aspirations which could not work in real life. But Jesus lived them out. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, it says that the crowds were impressed with his teaching because he taught as one who had authority. That means they saw that he lived out what he taught.

So let’s have a look at these troubling sayings of Jesus:

Blessed are the poor in spirit – This one has had a few different interpretations over the years. It is one of the main ones we have tended to ‘spiritualise’ because Matthew’s version adds ‘in spirit’ whereas Luke’s version just says ‘Blessed are the poor’ (Luke 6:20), This beatitude has generally been seen to be referring to those who see themselves as inadequate, whose only hope is in God. And the fact is that these ones are actually the outcast. Listen to what Athol Gill says about this:

“For Jesus.the kingdom of God belongs especially to the poor, the powerless, the outcasts, and the dispossessed – all those who have no standing within the community. Those who count for nothing in the eyes of their fellows are the very ones to whom the kingdom of God is promised. They come empty-handed, with no power or position of their own. Their only hope is in God, and that hope will not go unrewarded.”

So it happens that the poor in spirit are also the outcast and marginalised, those with no power or privilege. And these are always the materially poor. But notice that Jesus is not saying they are blessed because they are poor. This is not about having a poverty mentality. There is no glory in wanting to be poor, UNLESS God has specifically called you to a life of poverty. They are blessed because even though they are poor, in the kingdom of God they are loved.

Blessed are those who mourn – Dave Andrews points out that God does not bless those who are happy with the present state of affairs. He blesses those who mourn. Ridley College lecturer Dave Fuller talked once about having a holy dissatisfaction with life. You don’t have to look very hard at the world to see that things are not good. Deep down we all have a sense that something is wrong with everything.

Blessed are the meek – The main thing we need to keep in mind here is that meek does not mean weak. Being meek in Jesus’ day actually referred to the taming of a wild stallion, meaning those who have powerful emotions but who have them under control. This can mean channeling your energy in surrender to God and God’s will, not being out of control and running your life how you think it should be run.

Blessed are those who seek righteousness – This should really be translated those who seek justice, as that is what the original Greek translates to, but I think both fit, because righteousness can be seen in an individual sense which is like being pure in heart, but justice is seen more in terms of social justice. Jesus sought out justice for those who were being oppressed by the Romans and the religious leaders. He said they were of the same status as everyone else. And those who seek justice in the same way as Jesus did are blessed.

Blessed are the merciful – Jesus says blessed are those who seek justice (previous beatitude) but many who are into social justice are merciless. There is a constant anger about them. I’ve seen them at peace marches. There is not a lot of gentleness shown by these people at these marches. More problematically though, I see it in myself. I very quickly become resentful at politicians who go against what I think is right. But Jesus says ‘blessed are the merciful.’ Justice and mercy are often linked throughout the Bible. An example is another classic passage from the Old Testament, Micah 6:8 – do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.

Blessed are the pure in heart – This beatitude refers to those who work for what is right but don’t bring attention to themselves. I saw a coffee mug once that had written on it, ‘integrity is doing what is right when nobody is watching.’

The pure in heart are those who want to be pure, not just in their actions, but in their thoughts as well. That’s why Jesus told the disciples and the crowds to not just not kill people, but that anyone who hates has done the same thing as kill their enemy. Jesus actually intensified the norms of the culture to their true meaning. It is about integrity. That’s why he also said that when you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, and when you pray, go into your room and lock the door, because God sees what you’re doing. It’s not about showing everyone how righteous you are.

It needs to be pointed out here too that the Beatitudes are very confronting statements. To say in this case that purity is what’s on the inside was a profoundly politically subversive statement to make by Jesus. For to say that purity is a matter of the heart was to deny that it is a matter of observing the purity system that the religious leaders obeyed in those days. The purity system was a strict code designed to exclude ‘outsiders’. It was all about how good you looked. But Jesus turned that right around and said that it is actually about what you’re like on the inside. And the Pharisees didn’t like that one bit because they knew that he was saying to them that they were rotten on the inside. I need to constantly be aware of this to ensure that I am not being a ‘Pharisee’ myself in my own life by doing apparently godly things which actually exclude others.

Blessed are the peacemakers – This is another beatitude that Dave Andrews has some good points to make on. He explains that Jesus says that only committed peacemakers have a legitimate claim to be called children of God. And notice too that it is not saying ‘blessed are the peace keepers’; it is blessed are the peace makers; those who actively and intentionally work for peace between people. Teachings like this highlight loudly and clearly that, even under the ‘just war’ principles put forward by Ambrose and Augustine when Christianity became the State religion, our current wars simply do not fit that criteria (are you beginning to see how the Beatitudes are relevant to the real 21st century world?).

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake – It is very important to note that this beatitude does not say ‘blessed are the persecuted’. There is no merit in suffering for suffering’s sake. It is about suffering for doing what is right, as Peter says in his letters later on in the New Testament. Just as I mentioned before that it is not about having a poverty mentality, it is also not about having suffering mentality or a martyr complex.

If we are to take the Beatitudes seriously, these sayings of Jesus call us to change ourselves. Dave Andrews says that ‘to quote the Beatitudes is religious, but to act on them is revolutionary’. Before calling on others to change, we have to change, ourselves. As we live them out, we change. The Beatitudes are about conversion – conversion to the way of Jesus. This is why the earliest Christians were called followers of the Way, because they lived out the way of Jesus, and literally thousands joined their ranks because they saw that these people were different. They cared when others didn’t. They were prepared to suffer for what was right, and they took outrageous risks of love when others didn’t.

The Beatitudes are the framework of the Sermon on the Mount, and the Sermon on the Mount is the framework of Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God. Remember that Jesus talks about the kingdom of God 110 times in the gospels, and he talks about being born again twice. Just something to remember for those of us who go on and on about the need to be born again while not stressing the real message of Jesus (and here I must stress that I am NOT denigrating being born again. I believe in the new birth. It is essential for a relationship with Jesus. And while Jesus mentioned it only twice, the fact is he did mention it and therefore it is to be taken very seriously. I am just saying that if we are to truly follow Jesus, we need to stress the kingdom of God much more than being born again, just as Jesus did).

In Jesus the kingdom of God has come into history. The Beatitudes are Jesus’ announcement of this coming kingdom, a time when those who mourn will be comforted, when those who hunger and thirst for justice will finally have found what they are looking for, to quote the U2 song, and when the merciful will receive mercy.

This is the upside down kingdom, when the first will be last and the last will be first (Luke 13:30), a kingdom which will finally be consummated, as we have described in that wonderful passage in Revelation, when the final coming together of heaven and earth happens and there will be no more tears or pain or death (Revelation 21:1-5). That is when all things will be made new. But here in Matthew’s gospel, with the coming of Jesus, the kingdom of God has broken into history and that is what Jesus is announcing in the Beatitudes. In him, in his life through his works of compassion, his healing, his including of those who have always been excluded, the kingdom has come. It has broken into history through this man.

So the Beatitudes are not about us. They are not just a set of values. They are about Jesus and who he is and what he is doing. This is the good news, that you who are broken, you who are last now, you will be first. It is the great reversal, and it has begun to happen in Jesus. It is the beginning of heaven coming to earth, which we see finally completed in Revelation 21 when heaven and earth come together fully and completely, never to be separate again, to make God’s consummated kingdom, where the characteristics of this kingdom reflect the character of the king – just, loving, peace, reconciling and restoring. These are all what God is like, and so it will be what life in the kingdom is like when it will finally be completed at the end of all things.

In Jesus the future has arrived; it is here. Remember that Jesus says ‘blessed ARE the poor in spirit’, not ‘blessed will be’; ‘blessed ARE you who mourn’, not ‘blessed will be’. You are blessed now, but it is not the type of blessing we often refer to in our churches. It is the blessing of the kingdom of God, of following Jesus and being drawn closer to Him. The kingdom has come, and we are called to live by its values, reflecting the king, being merciful, doing justice, loving our enemies, and living with integrity – being pure in heart, not just in outward appearance. We live like this in anticipation of the day when all things will be made new, when our hope will be made complete, when justice reigns, when peace reigns, and when love reigns, in our hearts, in our thoughts, and in the world. Amen.

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/26420.htm

These words offer us a self-portrait of Jesus.  Jesus is the Blessed One. And the face of the Blessed One shows poverty, gentleness, grief, hunger, and thirst for uprightness, mercy, purity of heart, a desire to make peace, and the signs of persecution.

The whole message of the Gospel is this: become like Jesus.  We have his self-portrait.  When we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow Jesus and become like him.

Excerpt taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen. ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco

Joyful are those who know they are helpless

For they rely on God,

And God’s eternal Commonwealth is theirs.

Joyful are those who know sorrow and pain,

For peace and quiet joy will be theirs;

Gentle certainty will be theirs;

And strength will come to them in abundance.

Joyful are those who do not tread on others,

Those whose words and deeds are gentle,

For they will be the ones with the new earth.

Joyful are those whose hearts break,

and whose spirits groan, for justice in this world,

For they will see the great realm of peace and justice,

And their quest will be accomplished,

And their dream will come true.

Joyful are those who respond to others in need

Who do not remember past wrongs,

For God will forgive their wrongs

And respond to their needs.

Joyful are those whose

hearts and minds thirst for one thing,

And that is to walk in God’s way

And to live in God’s truth,

No matter how high the toll;

For they will bask in God’s love.

Joyful are those who work for peace,

For they are God’s children;

God is their Father who provides for them,

And their Mother who nurtures them.

Joyful are you who meet with hatred

because of your stand for justice,

Your reward will not be the punishment

of those who abuse you;

Instead, you will long for their redemption;

Instead, your reward will be to see

the reign of God in its completeness;

Your reward will be to see God’s justice

ruling all humanity and all creation,

And there will be no end to that era of justice.

Joyful are you who endure harsh things

because of the teachings of Christ;

You will know the endless government

of justice and peace,

The endless (reign) of love and truth.

Be comforted in this,

for all who have so spoken the truth

have been so abused.

All of you can be full of joy,

Because you have hope—

The hope of God’s Commonwealth—

Where tears are wiped away,

Where pain is erased.

You will be in harmony with creation

You will see the everlasting domain

of justice, mercy, peace, and truth,

You will be in the presence of God.

You will look upon God’s face, and not faint.

God’s eyes will smile upon you;

You will sit in God’s lap,

And feel God’s embrace.

You will sit by the fire with God,

And you will rest.

Katie Cook, Baptist Peacemaker.

www.wcwcw.com/factsandimpressions/thought138.htm

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.” (Psalm 72:18)

Blessed are the leaders who safeguard human dignity, justice, peace and biological diversity and integrity in the name of our Creator with candor, humility and Wisdom.

Blessed are the faithful followers of Jesus who listen, and act with compassion, truthfulness and kindness.

Blessed are the dedicated children of God who do not judge, stigmatise, discriminate, trivialise, humiliate, oppress and intimidate for theirs is a place in the reign of God.

Blessed are the ones who sow the seeds of righteousness, faithfulness and steadfast love with patient endurance and forgiveness.

Blessed are the boys, girls, women and men who gaze at Wisdom, talk to Wisdom and walk with Wisdom for they will rejoice in the goodness of God.

Blessed is our Creator who nurtures new life, forgives, redeems and makes whole again.

Blessed are the forgiven and reconciled, for they will live in peace.

Christ Jesus, teach us how to faithfully embrace God’s promises of peace, hope, grace, love, faith, righteousness and wisdom.  Amen.”

http://server68.hostpoint.ch/~eallian/adventcalendar/

Be loyal to your friends.

Be strong enough to face the world each day.

Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything alone.

Be generous to those who need your help.

Be frugal with that you need yourself.

Be wise enough to know that you do not know everything.

Be foolish enough to believe in miracles.

Be willing to share your joys.

Be willing to share the sorrows of others.

Be a leader when you see a path others have missed.

Be a follower when you are shrouded by the mists of uncertainty.

Be first to congratulate an opponent who succeeds.

Be last to criticize a colleague who fails.

Be sure where your next step will fall, so that you will not tumble

Be sure of your final destination, in case you are going the wrong way.

Be loving to those who love you.

Be loving to those who do not love you; they may change.

Above all, be yourself.

The “Be” Attitudes TM ~By Author Be Be~

Visit The Be Attitudes website! www.thebeattitudes.com

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.

Step Seven!

Step Seven – Make peace on earth, as is 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)