Mel's Healing Pilgrimage 2016

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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Beatitudes 2.1

As All Saints' Day and All Souls Day arrive, I start to think about the blessings all around us, the cloud of witnesses who came and laid down the pavement for us to walk upon but are no longer physically present. And it seems fitting that the readings this coming All Saints' Day (November 1) are the beatitudes as laid down in Luke 6:20-31. It's slightly different from the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-12.

Here's the one in Luke


Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man. 
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
    for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
    for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,

    for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Luke 6:20-31


In comparison, here's the one in Matthew.


Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds    of evil against you because of me.
Matthew 5:3-12 

It seems that the reading for today is focused more heavily on those who are truly poor and the one in Matthew focuses on the ones who are poor in spirit. They are both in the Gospel and I am inclined to think that both are equally important for us to ponder. In many ways, I conflate the two and think Christ was focused on all the poor in society, body, and spirit.

Last year, I blogged about creating my own list of the blessed, the Beatitudes 2.0 if you will. It came a presentation when Nadia Bolz-Weber visited to All Saints Pasadena and she offered her list. My list came out to be as follows

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    the spiritual but not religious
    the seekers of their authentic selves
    the suffering who begin to doubt because the pain never seems to end
    the sick who fear their own bodies
    the stranger in our midst who needs a smile, a hug, a friend
    the child afraid to venture outside lest the bullying return
    the scared who fear coming home lest they return to a place of anger and judgment
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
    the spouse who lost the person they've loved deeper than we can understand
    the lovers who no longer find the trust and joy in each other's arms and say goodbye
    the child who doesn't understand why her parent won't be coming home anymore
    the friends who viewed a couple as one, as was meant to be, but now just find hollow eyes
    the family shocked at the loss of someone taken too soon by gun violence
    the relatives whose loss is viewed by others as collateral damage
    the breaking hearts who did not even have a chance to say goodbye
    the silent who must watch dementia steal someone's memories away leaving just a body
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
    the teenager who stays in the closet, fearing that the name of their love will be discovered
    the pained who turn to the bottle or to pills to give them strength and energy
    the thinker and artist that lacks the opportunity to share
    the pastors who heal others but wonder who will tend to them
    the friend who realizes that somehow their bodies and souls don't fit a M/F binary
    the nurse who washes our sores  
    the friend that listens to hear us, watches to see us, and grabs our hands to hold us
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    the foreigner who is told to leave and go to a place of fear and hunger
    the friends who cannot walk down the street in a hoodie or even complain about injustice
    the mother who just wants to get affordable medical care to plan a family
    the inmate facing the final judgment of Man and not our Creator
    the families torn apart because of arbitrary rules regarding homeland
    the kneeling who face violence because of their love for God, YHWH, Allah, Buddha, Shiva, ...
    the proud who won't let others impose their bigotries on them
for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
    the heros who take care of us behind our backs
    the friends that know all will benefit from roads, sanitation, health, protection, education
    the families who reach out and adopt and care for all children, not just those that look like them
    the older sibling, real or implied, who has our backs
    the comadre and compadre who listen to our problems without judging us
    the teacher who gives of their own time to care for that special child
    the mother and father, sister and brother, who just want you to be happy
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
    the custodians at the church, homeless shelter, and hospital
    the teachers who want the most for your child
    the person at the grocery line who lets you cut in front of them
    the staff at the store and restaurant that share the bathroom even if you didn't or can't buy anything
    the ranger who tends to our land so that future generations can marvel at Creation
    the homeowner who sees you lost, gives you water, and guides you home
    the friend who gives you a ride, cares for a prisoner, plants flowers on a trail
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
    the police and judiciary that understand that true safety starts in trust
    the people who unite us as a human family, rather than divide us like spoils of war
    the artists, writers, and musicians who inspire us to love and compassion
    the fire crew that calms the fearful neighborhood
    the military who put their lives on the line for our protection and not for their glory
    the unknown missionary who lies in a shallow grave for the civil rights of brothers and sisters
    the good Samaritan whose name we never knew, or whose face we've already forgotten
for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    the ones who care for the Children of God
         ignoring false idols
         ignoring their own egos
         ignoring the sense of their own righteousness
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Perhaps because I've spent my career in software, I thought I would revisit this list and made some changes. I do this not because some things are less blessed than others but because sometimes, with the filter of time, you start to see things differently. I put in italics the areas that changed.

Blessed are those guided or seek guidance by a higher power
    the poor in spirit,
    the spiritual but not religious
    the pious and self-righteous
    the broken one feeling the weight of their perceived sins
    the seekers of their authentic selves
    the suffering who begin to doubt because the pain never seems to end
    the sick who fear their own bodies
    the stranger in our midst who needs a smile, a hug, a friend
    the child afraid to venture outside lest the bullying return
    the scared who fear coming home lest they return to a place of anger and judgment
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
    the spouse who lost the person they've loved deeper than we can understand
    the lovers who no longer find the trust and joy in each other's arms and say goodbye
    the child who doesn't understand why her parent won't be coming home anymore
    the friends who viewed a couple as one, as was meant to be, but now just find hollow eyes
    the family shocked at the loss of someone taken too soon by gun violence
    the relatives whose loss is viewed by others as collateral damage
    the breaking hearts who did not even have a chance to say goodbye
    the silent who must watch dementia steal someone's memories away leaving just a body
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
    the woman who must remain meek and the man who must not be meek
    the teenager who stays in the closet, fearing that the name of their love will be discovered
    the pained who turn to the bottle or to pills to give them strength and energy
    the thinker and artist that lacks the opportunity to share
    the pastors who heal others but wonder who will tend to them
    the neighbor who realizes that somehow their bodies and souls don't fit a M/F binary
    the nurse who washes our sores    
    the friend that listens to hear us, watches to see us, and grabs our hands to hold us
    the person down the hall whom we intentionally or unintentionally oppress
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    the foreigner who is told to leave and go to a place of fear and hunger
    the friends who cannot walk down the street in a hoodie or even complain about injustice
    the mother who just wants to get affordable medical care to plan a family
    the inmate facing the final judgment of Man and not our Creator
    the families torn apart because of arbitrary rules regarding homeland
    the kneeling who face violence because of their love for God, YHWH, Allah, Buddha, Shiva, ...
    the proud who won't let others impose their bigotries on them
    the neighbor whose land was taken & defiled by governments, industry, oil, & ourselves
for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
    the heros who take care of us behind our backs
    the friends that know all will benefit from roads, sanitation, health, protection, education
    the families who reach out and adopt and care for all children, not just those that look like them
    the older sibling, real or implied, who has our backs
    the comadre and compadre who listen to our problems without judging us
    the teacher who gives of their own time to care for that special child
    the mother and father, sister and brother, who just want you to be happy
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
    the custodians at the church, homeless shelter, and hospital
    the teachers who want the most for your child
    the person at the grocery line who lets you cut in front of them
    the staff at the store and restaurant that share the bathroom even if you didn't or can't buy anything
    the ranger who tends to our land so that future generations can marvel at Creation
    the homeowner who sees you lost, gives you water, gives you refuge, and guides you home
    the friend who gives you a ride, cares for a prisoner, plants flowers on a trail
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
    the police and judiciary that understand that true safety starts in trust
    the people who unite us as a human family, rather than divide us like spoils of war
    the artists, writers, and musicians who inspire us to love and compassion
    the fire crew that calms the fearful neighborhood
    the military who put their lives on the line for our protection and not for their glory
    the unknown missionary who lies in a shallow grave for the civil rights of brothers and sisters
    the good Samaritan whose name we never knew, or whose face we've already forgotten
for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    the ones who care for the Children of God
         ignoring false idols
         ignoring their own egos
         ignoring the sense of their own righteousness
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In your world, what are YOUR beatitudes? And in your heart, who do you bless as Jesus would bless?




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