Blessed are you if you’re cold because you can’t pay your heating bill.
Blessed are you if you frequent food and clothing pantries because your income doesn’t make it through the month.
Blessed are you if you’re forced to rely on other people for transportation because your car has broken down more times than you can count and there is no money to fix it.
Blessed are you when you go without things so that others might be blessed.
Blessed are you who are poor because God helps you see and participate in the life of Jesus more readily than those who believe they have no need.
Blessed are you if you go without meals because there is no money to buy food.
Blessed are you if the food you receive from the food pantry doesn’t stretch far enough to fill the hole in your stomach.
Blessed are you when you look in your cupboards and see only empty shelves.
Blessed are you when you go hungry because you give some of your food to someone else who lacks plenty.
Blessed are you when you’re hungry because God will fill you up with food that you don’t know about.
Blessed are you who have lost children, family, and friends to drugs, violence, and disease.
Blessed are you who have felt the sting of broken relationships with family and friends.
Blessed are you who grieve over loved ones who have followed lifestyles that have ruined their lives and the lives of those around them.
Blessed are you who have been torn apart by the abuse of those that were supposed to be your protectors.
Blessed are you when you cry, weep, and wail because the God of all comfort will turn your tears into the laughter of those who know no pain.
Blessed are you when people do evil things to you because you choose to act in the love of Jesus.
Blessed are you when people give you the cold shoulder because you belong to Christ.
Blessed are you when people lie about you because they can’t handle the truth of your life which reflects the compassion and mercy of God.
Blessed are you when people ruin your reputation because you eat with addicts, prostitutes, and people whose lives are ruined by sin.
Laugh, shout, dance, and jump for joy when these happen because your reward in God’s Kingdom of Reconciliation will be better than you can imagine. These things have happened to those who lived out God’s truth before you. You are not alone. And the time is coming when all of the bad will be turned to good for the glory of God.
So powerful, Linda, thank you.
amen and amen.
What a beautiful expression. We say the beatitudes so often they seem to lose meaning. It’s much like the way we have banished the “Lord’s Prayer” to the banality of repetition, when Jesus was trying to teach the disciples how not to pray in the fashion of the Pharisees who pray with meaningless repetitions. Thanks for giving Matthew 5 some flesh and bones!
Beautiful Linda