Reflection on the Beatitudes

MT 5:1-12

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

    Lord, break my spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn.

    Lord, forgive my sins, 

that cause pain to You and others

Blessed are the meek.

    Lord, I need to take myself 

less seriously, 

and 

You more seriously.

  

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

    Lord, help me avoid the temptation of indifference.

  

Blessed are the merciful.

    Lord, may the grace you grant me, 

be shared with all.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

    Lord, mold me into a person of integrity. 

Blessed are the peacemakers.

    Lord, give me the wisdom to know Your way.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.

    Lord, give me courage when I am afraid. 

It is often easier to fight for a principle than to live up to it (Wisdom 2)

12: "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. 13: He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. 14: He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; 15: the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. 16: We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. 17: Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; 18: for if the righteous man is God's son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 19: Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. 20: Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."  Book of Wisdom 2:12-20


How can I hear
this inconvenient Truth? 

Who says my way
is not the Way He taught?

Who says the those
who do not take
personal responsibility
will be experience His joy?

Who says He is 
the Messiah,
the Christ,
God’s Son?

There is only one solution: 
A public death.

We will test him
with pain and derision
and afterwards
clean up
by placing Him
in a tomb
that God only knows 
its location. 

Meditation on Matthew 6:12

And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us. 
Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 1662

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:12 (KJV)

Forgive us our trespasses,
Sounds like we wandered
on someone's
property.
"Oh, my bad"


As we forgive them that trespass against us.
As we tell others
to get off our front lawn.

But we live in
a debt ridden
world.

A world of
In God we trust
all others pay cash.
A world of big winners
in their swimming pools
and losers
drowning in their underwater
mortgages.

Imagine in
corporate worship
asking
God
and
each other
to forget the debts
between us.

To be forgiven
with all the paperwork
not to be put back
in the filing cabinet.

Not to placed in a box
to be sent to Iron Mountain.

But
watching it all
being placed in
the shredder
of grace.

A free fresh start.

His First Sermon

Luke 4:14-30

He just said
eight words
in his first sermon.

But like any
first time preacher,
He couldn't leave
well enough alone.

And instead of
being invited
to Sunday dinner,
He had to escape
the wrath of
His hometown
congregation.

Ash Wednesday (2013)

Ashes made
from the
palms
of a
short-lived
victory march

Are now
recycled
to mark
the heads
of those
who
long
for the
King's
return.

Apparition

An eighty degree
afternoon
in January
should not be wasted.
I thought

And at the beach,
amongst the
Euros
still on vacation
and the pasty
white Canadians
I see
a Brazilian couple
walking in the surf.

And stamped
on her
gym shaped
bicep
was a tat
of the Madonna

Not  a Virgin
at the stable
Madonna.

Not a Mary
standing above
the votive candles
Madonna

But
a Madonna
who had a
I can't stand this anymore
expression.

My trance was broken
by  French kids
coming back from a swim
but not waking their
parents from their nap.

And down the beach
went
the couple
babbling in
a language
only they
could know.

Wedding Crashers

John 2:1-12 NIV

(Wedding at Cana)

“Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.”

Homer Simpson

I wonder 

if Mary had to

drag Jesus

to this affair.

And to make

it more 

tolerable

for Him

add the disciples 

to the guest list.

As the wedding

went on,

He watched

from His table,

the honored couple,

the happy families,

His date

dancing with 

Peter and Andrew,

He hears 

Mary come up

behind Him

and whisper,

“They have no wine.”

And in His

selfishness

He tells her

“That‘s not my problem.”

But His divinity

 sees the bigger

picture.

So the first 

miracle is recorded.

No shame

to the wedding

couple.

No blame

assigned

to the

uninvited

disciples.