“(if only it were this) well marked”photo by Bgrace
Today my fingers are itching to write. I can hardly contain myself. I went over some notes from the retreat and my thoughts are beginning to come together regarding the big picture. But I won’t get too far ahead because I want you to come along with me in the writing process. Then we’ll see how it will all come together in the end. Please feel free to add your thoughts/insights to the mix. (And no, it’s not too late to post a comment on an earlier post or send me an e-mail about it.) Dad, I’m waiting for an e-mail from you with lots of meat.
Our retreat leaders, Ken and Katherine, asked us to meditate upon 3 questions regarding the Beatitudes:
What are these statements?
Are they separate or are they related in some way?
Do they tell a story? If so, whose story?
So I took my notebook and my Bible and took some time to “listen” to the passage.
Here is what came from that:
"What are these? Observations? Yes, but perhaps it is also an invitation. Would we be willing to become so blessed? To entrust our lives to God’s sovereign hand that He might orchestrate that which would bring us to a place of blessedness? To the place of emptiness and change.
The moment of natural emptiness is the opportunity for spiritual fullness.
We become blessed as we are emptied. Then we are able to receive, able to contain the blessing. We are becoming blessed.
Whose story is this?
I was surprised at the answer that came to me. Perhaps it seems obvious, but I had never thought of the beatitudes as Christ’s story. But clearly they are the path that He walked. In the beatitudes He calls us to His very own pathway. The beatitudes are echoed VERY closely in Philippians 2.
We are invited to become like the prophets before us and to become as Christ Himself who made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Who humbled himself and became obedient to death.
His blessedness—His greatest reflection of the glory of God—came in His woundedness. Are we willing to enter into this woundedness, this emptiness, experience loss (leave mother/father etc.), this detachment from all that would bind us, humility, a place where we have cause to show mercy to the merciless. To let go of all that would keep us on our own way instead of Christ’s way. Would we become citizen’s of heaven’s kingdom and heaven’s way?
Would we invite the pain of all that must be lost in order to receive in tandem the great joy in heaven’s bestowment of this great grace that changes us as it fills us with the fullness of Christ Himself? The fullness of Love."
Here’s a few things from the rest of the group and from our discussion that I wrote down. (The one’s that spoke most deeply to me are in bold.) There are some real gems in here, so take time to really grasp the depth present in these thoughts:
The Beatitudes were given to the disciples to prepare them to become true followers of Christ.
They sum up the way of living life in the Spirit that reaps the rewards of heaven on earth.
They are precepts and also promises.
They are Jesus’ way of turning the world upside down.
They are a reframing of things. Not seeking for earthly rewards.
Seems to echo the idea of “harder for the rich man to enter into heaven than camel to go through the eye of a needle.”
What are these statements?
Are they separate or are they related in some way?
Do they tell a story? If so, whose story?
So I took my notebook and my Bible and took some time to “listen” to the passage.
Here is what came from that:
"What are these? Observations? Yes, but perhaps it is also an invitation. Would we be willing to become so blessed? To entrust our lives to God’s sovereign hand that He might orchestrate that which would bring us to a place of blessedness? To the place of emptiness and change.
The moment of natural emptiness is the opportunity for spiritual fullness.
We become blessed as we are emptied. Then we are able to receive, able to contain the blessing. We are becoming blessed.
Whose story is this?
I was surprised at the answer that came to me. Perhaps it seems obvious, but I had never thought of the beatitudes as Christ’s story. But clearly they are the path that He walked. In the beatitudes He calls us to His very own pathway. The beatitudes are echoed VERY closely in Philippians 2.
We are invited to become like the prophets before us and to become as Christ Himself who made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Who humbled himself and became obedient to death.
His blessedness—His greatest reflection of the glory of God—came in His woundedness. Are we willing to enter into this woundedness, this emptiness, experience loss (leave mother/father etc.), this detachment from all that would bind us, humility, a place where we have cause to show mercy to the merciless. To let go of all that would keep us on our own way instead of Christ’s way. Would we become citizen’s of heaven’s kingdom and heaven’s way?
Would we invite the pain of all that must be lost in order to receive in tandem the great joy in heaven’s bestowment of this great grace that changes us as it fills us with the fullness of Christ Himself? The fullness of Love."
Here’s a few things from the rest of the group and from our discussion that I wrote down. (The one’s that spoke most deeply to me are in bold.) There are some real gems in here, so take time to really grasp the depth present in these thoughts:
The Beatitudes were given to the disciples to prepare them to become true followers of Christ.
They sum up the way of living life in the Spirit that reaps the rewards of heaven on earth.
They are precepts and also promises.
They are Jesus’ way of turning the world upside down.
They are a reframing of things. Not seeking for earthly rewards.
Seems to echo the idea of “harder for the rich man to enter into heaven than camel to go through the eye of a needle.”
An archetype of the hero or heroine’s journey. You AWAKE and if you are willing to be present, it takes you into the longing for something better. It INVITES you to something better. It’s like a river you cross with no return. Jesus is saying, here is an invitation to the journey and this (the beatitudes) may be what the path looks like.
Words are sacred vessels. If we take care of them what might they hold?
It is difficult to stay open in the middle of the pain to stay open to receive the blessing.
Excruciating—the words mean cross of joy.
If we are going to be open, we need to be open to all of it.
Are we expecting God to meet us on our own terms, or on His terms?
We have to be expectant, but not have expectations.
Joy and persecution in the work of peace.
1 comment:
As I reflect upon the retreat I was truly blessed with a deep sense of joy, peace and knowing. The beatitudes are rich with the depth of Christ's love and as stated a "symphony of joy". I was challenged in my own thinking of where am I in the flow of the beatitudes. What spoke to my heart was the humility and purity of the words spoken by Jesus and what it means for me to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The beatitudes tell the story of the past from Abraham, David to Mary and they spoke of the present in the life of Jesus...His disciples, His commitment, His covenant and they speak of our future...to come follow Him. We will be refined, transformed and renewed by way of the beatitudes. It is an awakening from the natural to the spiritual...it is an expectancy. I came away from the retreat with a renewed affirmation of His call upon my life and that He will prepare the way that I am to walk
And Becky I agree "if only it were this well marked" yet what I do have is a guide Who will never fail me "though I may stumble I won't fall headlong for ADONAI holds me by the hand (Ps 37:24)
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