Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
The deeper I get into the Beatitudes the more radical they seem. Jesus is celebrating people who are downtrodden and overwhelmed by circumstances yet are happy and centered. He calls the "loser" winners and say they are the ones who are "truly blessed."
This week I am working on mourning and meekness. How are they connected? First of all mourning is something everyone has to do in life. Jesus knew well the transitoriness of life and so did his followers. Life is uncertain even in our lifes sheltered by material certainty. Death no longer routinely comes in early age or in childbirth. Yet we still die and it upsets us. Jesus is affirming that those that mourn will be comforted and then find a new life filled with joy.
But we mourn more then just death. We mourn the loss of moblity (think of christopher "Superman" Reeves) after his crippling horse jumping injury. His time with his children after the injury became richer, his marriage stronger, and his life took on an even higher purpose: promoting spinal cord research. His taks in mourning was to look at < "Not what I have lost, but what life can I now build."
We mourn changes in our health, changes in relationships with friends and family members, changes in our dreams. We have to mourn loss before we can rechart our course. How often are we out of sorts and unable to just go about our routine because we are mourning loses. We can't just get over it. We have to mourn and become comforted before we can jump into life again.
I believe people mourn in different ways and at different rates. Unfortunately some people never give up on mourning and thus never get back out there for God to bless them again.
Meekness is also an unappreciated character trait. I will say Sunday that meekness is not weakness. Meekness is the ability to stand up to oppression and injustice without resorting to violence. I would love more moives like "Ghandhi" and the Martin Luther King fils to show how non-violent approaches to change have more lasting effect than violence imposed and enforced change. To be meek--meaning wise and steady--requires considerable trust in God. Meekness requires the other party to see your point of view and be willing to change.
I think mourning and meekness are connected because they are both internal attitudes that have to deal with external hardships. Both require trust in God's providentail care.
We will see. I could still use some help here.
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James, I think the Old Testament theme of 'wilderness' is a close cousin to the concept of mourning. Moses, David, and Elijah all OT heros, spent significant time in the wilderness. (The Hebrew name for the fourth book in the Pentateuch which we call Numbers is literally, "In the Wilderness..." When you see this much writing on one theme you know it is a significant theological issue.) Later on Jesus spends time in the wilderness and Paul does also to an extent. What I find intriguing is that these were not necessarily times of punishment, but incredible times of character development. Further, times in the wilderness were not accidental times, but appear to be the direction God sent these characters. In fact, most likely the building that took place for all these characters while in the wilderness prepared them for significant ministry later in life. The wilderness times of life, just like the times of mourning, are never times that we seek but when we come through them we are stronger, wiser, more compassionate even. Mourning also takes us places we most likely would not have gone if given a choice. Great questions arise during mourning which shapes faith and prepares us for greater ministry.
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