> I like the name "Beattitudes"
> because they are the way we should BE and
> the ATTITUDES we should have.

I haven't thought about this teaching that way in a very long time. The way I've been reading the Beatitudes, they're more like prophetic promises--which is where you go in your thinking about the persecution promise, but not really before that.

> Mt 5:3 ¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for
> theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I think how one interprets "poor in spirit" is critical, because Luke's gospel simply states "Blessed are you poor." Whether one is poor in spirit or just plain poor, it seems ironic to me that the kind of dependency on Providence that attends poverty is the way to live in the Kingdom. Is that the Kingdom to come, a spiritual kingdom here and now, or both? (I think it's both.)

I suppose one can be poor without being blessed, because poverty can be extremely dehumanizing. There's nothing blessed about living in low income housing next door to a crack dealer and worrying all the time that your kids will get shot when they step foot outside the house. This might cause a person to depend more heavily on Providence for protection, or it might make a person despair.

> 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they
> shall be comforted.

Seems to fit right in line the realities that the greatest spiritual affliction of living in grinding, dehumanizing poverty is sorrow & despair.

I've concluded that "poor in spirit" means (among other things) living with empathy and in solidarity with people afflicted by the harsh realities of poverty.

The poor have the hope of deliverance, and that hope comforts them.

> 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall
> inherit the earth.

This one I've been thinking about quite a lot in terms of the Palestinians & Israelis. When I looked up the Greek word for "meek" (tapeino) it means "humble, lowly, poor." The Hebrew word for the poor, humble, afflicted & meek is anawim, which literally translates as "the lost & forgotten." The dispossessed of land.

(The Greek term that's used for Jesus' step-father Joseph's occupation is "tektonis" or "hand laborer"--this has been interpreted to as "carpenter," but in 1st century Palestine the termed literally referred to a manual laborer who had lost his inheritance of land.)

So who are the anawim in the conflict of Palestine & Israel? Perhaps both sides are. First, the Jews because of the Holocaust, then the Palestinians because of the establishment of Israel on land that was formerly theirs (Although western historians debate the extent to which Palestine "belonged" to the Arabs and other non-Jewish peoples of the region, those who have lost land to Israel don't view the issue as debateable.)

The historic situation reminds me of how European immigrants to the Americas took the land away from indigenous peoples (First Nation Peoples). Many of the Europeans who immigrated were the poor & dispossessed, which is why they were willing to fight and die to pioneer a home and nation in the New World--they had nothing to lose but their lives, and everything to gain if they succeeded.

It's not good what was done to the indigenous people of the Americas, but it was done, and I am the descendent of those who possessed the land at the expense of the Cherokee & Choctaw Nations. Historically, this is the way of human beings, and the same pattern of immigration & dispossion continues to occur throughout the world today. Nations of people with bigger weapons and a hunger in the belly for what they believe is their manifest destiny take over the land & resources of less powerful peoples. Some folks would say God ordained it that way. I just say, "That's how it is."

Whether or not God ordained a manifest destiny for Europeans in the Americas or Jews in Palestine, it seems to me that the Beatitudes say things are completely different in the Kingdom of God.

> 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and
> thirst after righteousness: for they shall
> be filled.

So, is the Kingdom of God something we wait for, or do we begin living in it right now, today? If I hunger for the righteousness of God's Kingdom, then do I begin living as though the poor, meek, and dispossessed will inherit the earth? That seems to be a strategy of backing the underdog, doesn't it?

> 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall
> obtain mercy.

Whether I support the underdog or not, whether I live in compassionate solidarity with the poor or not, it doesn't pay to kick a people when they're down. What goes around, comes around.

> 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they
> shall see God.

It's hard to figure out who the true underdog is sometimes. I wouldn't consider the violence of the Palestinians as evidence of a people who are "poor in spirit" any more than I'd interpret Israeli polities of retribution that way.

> 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they
> shall be called the children of God.

The way to peace (as I see it) is not to pick sides. Maybe it sounds like I've picked sides when I say Israel has a right to defend itself, but I'll say the same for Palestine, too. The lack of mercy that Israel has shown to Palestine has created a vicious cycle of retribution and revenge. I try to avoid debates about who started it or which side is most wrong in their claims of injustice and aggression.

> 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for
> righteousness' sake: for theirs is the
> kingdom of heaven.
> 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile
> you, and persecute you, and shall say all
> manner of evil against you falsely, for my
> sake.

I'm going to hold off commenting on these final verses.