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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Tuesday, August 3, 2021

do something

…we are accustomed to hearing the Beatitudes expressed passively:

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

 

“Blessed” is the translation of the word makarioi, used in the Greek New Testament. However, when I look further back to Jesus’ Aramaic, I find that the original word was ashray, from the verb yashar. Ashray does not have this passive quality to it at all. Instead, it means “to set yourself on the right way for the right goal; to turn around, repent.”. . .

 

When I understand Jesus’ words in Aramaic, I translate like this:

 

Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for you shall be satisfied.

Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you peacemakers, for you shall be called children of God.

 

To me this reflects Jesus’ words and teachings much more accurately. I can hear him saying: “Get your hands dirty to build a human society for human beings; otherwise, others will torture and murder the poor, the voiceless, and the powerless.” Christianity is not passive but active, energetic, alive, going beyond despair. . . .

 

“Get up, go ahead, do something, move,” Jesus said to his disciples. [1]

 

Megan McKenna, Blessings and Woes: The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke (Orbis Books: 1999), 22–23.

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despair

can be a lousy companion

 

it hangs around in deep places in our souls

it ghosts through our mind

whispering

 

“there is no hope”

“nothing can be done”

“the evil one’s have too much power”

“they will destroy all that is good”

 

in despair we hungrily consume the messages of

gloom and doom that come from our computers and our TV

 

or perhaps

frantically avoid reality altogether

 

we create our own realities of outrage and resentment

or our own realities that comfort and ease

 

and sometimes

sometimes we seek comfort

in the idea that there is something

but it “up there, out there”

or “in here”

 

that we can turn to

which will save us

from “them”, or perhaps, perhaps, rescue us from ourselves

 

“Blessed” we faithful intone, “are the pure in heart”

“Blessed are the poor, the humble, the merciful…”

“Blessed am I… “

 

and we wait for rescue

 

and all that is Sacred wonders

why it is taking us so long to act

why it is taking us so long to get

go ahead

and do something

 

to be blessed also (it seems)

means to be a blessing

to help the poor, feed the hungry

fight for justice

comfort the hurting

 

to be blessed

means to get up, turn around

and work

work

work

 

to pull the Kingdom of God

kicking and screaming

into a world that does not appear to want it

 

 

 

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