God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them."
Me: "Yes Lord. I desperately recognize my need for you. Your presence in my life is as the air I breath. Without you I am among the walking, wandering dead."
God: "I bless those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
Me: "Yes Lord. My life has been punctuated with grief. I have taken my seat of mourning at the bedside of illness and death. My heart has beat out a rythmn of sorrow while watching another heart fall silent. Irreparable regrets from days gone by and seemingly unattainable hopes for days yet to come conspire to imprison me behind a veil of darkness and shadow. I receive your comfort Lord. From you comes the brilliant radiance of a joy not of this world."
God: "I bless those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them."
Me: "But Lord, I am not this man. I am not gentle. Words of harsh judgement come much more freely than words of kindness. I most eagerly pursue my own way, my own path, with my own strength - strength that I don't really have. Pride and arrogance have been my guideposts, marking my way for me. How shall I be one to whom the whole earth will belong?"
God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, just as you have done. The Kingdom of Heaven is given to you!"
God: "I bless those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they will receive it in full."
Me: "But Lord, again I fall short. I hunger and thirst for comfort. I hunger and thirst for pleasure. I hunger and thirst for status. I hunger and thirst for power. I hunger and thirst for possessions. I hunger and thirst to satisfy my hunger and thirst. Though I long to know your righteousness, that longing is so easily swallowed up by my cheaper longing for lesser desires. How shall I be one who is filled by your righteousness when my hunger pangs are so few?"
God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, just as you have done. The Kingdom of Heaven is given to you!"
God: "I bless those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
Me: "Lord, I despair in my mercilessness. I cannot weep with those who weep, for I prefer to appear strong. Before I share my food with the hungry I make sure that I myself am well fed. The stranger will be given a drink of cool water, as long as my cistern remains full when he leaves. I turn from the sick out of fear of joining them in their sickness. My heart is a stone, heavy and burdensome. How shall I be one who will receive your mercy when there is heard only silence while listening for the voices of those who have received mercy from me?"
God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, just as you have done. The Kingdom of Heaven is given to you!"
God: "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God."
Me: Lord, my heart is carried about by the winds of lesser desires and divided loyalties. I awake in the morning longing to walk in the way of Jesus, yet fall asleep at the end of a path I have blazed for myself. My devotion to your Kingdom is as a flag standing alone on a hill being blown wherever the wind may blow it. How shall I be the one to see you when I have allowed my heart to be parceled out to so many others?
God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, just as you have done. The Kingdom of Heaven is given to you!"
God: "I bless those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God."
Me: "Then Lord, I cannot be called your child. My work, though heavy and burdensome, is done to satisfy my desires and accumulate my possessions. I have neither the time nor the energy to be a peacemaker - to seek out and step into conflict and suffering with your peace in hand. How shall I be called your child when my work is done to satisfy my desires rather than to carry your peace into a broken world?"
God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, just as you have done. The Kingdom of Heaven is given to you!"
God: "I will bless you when you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because you are my follower. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted, too."
Me: "But Lord, most often I'm not sure anyone would know that I'm your follower. If I am the light of the world, then that light seldom reaches outside of the basket under which it is hidden. If, as your child, I am like a city on a hill then I have provided so few directions to that city. I am too often silent when the world around me requires courageously spoken words. I am too often busy playing with toys in the sand when there are grand voyages to be taken. I recline at the table of gluttony while around me brothers and sisters die bravely in warfare for the Kingdom. Where is my happiness in valor? Where is my gladness in sacrifice? How shall I be one to receive any reward when I run from suffering for your name?
God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, just as you have done. The Kingdom of Heaven is given to you!"
Me: "Lord, I am slow of learning."
God: "I blesss those who realize their need for me, just as you have done. The Kingdom of Heaven is given to you!" Because you have so freely expressed to me your great weakness and your great need, the Kingdom of Heaven already belongs to you! And because the Kingdom of Heaven already belongs to you, I will flood you with gentleness that you may be gentle. I will purify your heart and turn you to the singular purpose of knowing me and being known by me. Because the Kingdom of Heaven already belongs to you, I will cause your life to be a fragrance of peace wherever you walk and you will become the embodiment of selflessness, valor, and sacrifice all for the good of others and for the glory of your God."
Me: "Wonderful Lord!" What must I do? How do I now make all of this come to pass?"
God: "I bless those who realize their need for me, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them."
~Inspired by my wife's insight into Matthew 5
Beautiful interpretation...we little realise how much power there is in a blessing. God is so good:)
Posted by: Thyme2dream | August 03, 2008 at 10:28 PM