I found this week on a blog by NADIA BOLZ WEBER, which I particularly loved.
She imagined Jesus
here standing among us saying.
Blessed are the
agnostics. Blessed are they who doubt. Those who aren’t sure, who can still be
surprised. Blessed are they who are spiritually impoverished and therefore not
so certain about everything that they no longer take in new information.
Blessed are those who have nothing to offer. Blessed are they for whom nothing
seems to be working. Blessed are the pre-schoolers who cut in line at
communion. Blessed are the poor in spirit. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses
you.
Blessed are
those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are they for whom death is not an
abstraction. Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears
are as real as an ocean. Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what
loss feels like. Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried. Blessed are they
who don’t have the luxury of taking things for granted any more. Blessed are
they who can’t fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone
else. Blessed are the motherless, the alone, the ones from whom so much has
been taken. Blessed are those who “still aren’t over it yet” Blessed are they
who laughed again when for so long they thought they never would. Blessed are Jo’s
wife and kids and Jim’s mom and Amy’s friends. Blessed are those who mourn. You
are of heaven and Jesus blesses you
“Blessed are
the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are
those who no one else notices. The kids who sit alone at middle-school lunch
tables. The laundry staff at the hospital. The sex-workers and the night shift
street sweepers. Blessed are the losers and the babies and the parts of
ourselves that are so small. The parts of ourselves that don’t want to make eye
contact with a world that only loves the winners. Blessed are the forgotten.
Blessed are the closeted. Blessed are the unemployed, the unimpressive, the
underrepresented. Blessed are the teens who have to figure out ways to hide the
new cuts on their arms. Blessed are the meek. You are of heaven and Jesus
blesses you.
“Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the wrongly accused, the ones who
never catch a break, the ones for whom life is hard – for they are those with
whom Jesus chose to surround himself. Blessed are those without documentation.
Blessed are the ones without lobbyists. Blessed are foster kids and trophy kids
and special ed kids and every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved
and never does. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Blessed are they who know there has to be more than this. Because they are
right.
“Blessed are
the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are
those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of people. Blessed are
the burnt-out social workers and the over worked teachers and the pro-bono case
takers. Blessed are the kids who step between the bullies and the weak. Blessed
are they who delete hateful, homophobic comments off their friend’s Facebook
page. Blessed are the ones who have received such real grace that they are no
longer in the position of ever deciding who the “deserving poor” are. Blessed
is everyone who has ever forgiven me when I didn’t deserve it. Blessed are the
merciful for they totally get it.
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