Blessed are those...

I have always loved the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-10, the simple messages of hope and consolation offered in The Sermon on the Mount:

• Blessed are the poor in sprit: for theirs in the kingdom of Heaven.
• Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
• Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
• Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
• Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
• Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
• Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
• Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Indeed, one of the central tenets of my whole religious concept is the seventh one listed, Matthew 5:9. Friends, meaning members of the Religious Society of Friends, wholly embrace the idea of peacemaking, obviously, and are willing to work towards that end.

The simple comfort offered by these passages is what I cherish in them. Frequently, non-religious friends and acquaintances will tell me that religion is just a crutch to deal with mortality and a host of social ills and that a truly strong mind and person doesn’t need it. They may be right. Probably are, to an extent. These same friends claim that my strong attraction to this passage probably stems from a desire for justice and parity and my deeply-seated lack of faith in humanity that precludes achieving it through anything other than divine means.

When friends try and psychoanalyze me this closely, I tend to lose their numbers.

Anyway, there is a ton of textual criticism on the exact meaning and relevance of the Beatitudes, but I've never really been satisfied with all the conclusions they draw. I think they make it too hard. I prefer to take the passage at face value, as a prescription for a better way to approach the world and its inherent hardships, with the knowledge that hardship can lead to improvement.

All of this is just a long and meandering way of saying I'm moving my blog to a new server and a new domain, www.forgottenbeatitudes.com. I'll keep this one going, because it's free, and maybe even post here occasionally, but it will no longer be my main. A friend who's blog-savvy I deeply respect convinced me that if I want people to read my blog, there are steps I need to take and, in order to take them, I've decided to basically start from scratch. FB will be more personal in nature, although I'm sure politics will creep in.

So, for all five of you who read this, check out www.forgottenbeatitudes.com.