His Heart!
Until we learn to talk seriously about the sermon on the mount and the beatitudes we will never truly know the heart of Christ. There the primary language is unlearning… letting go… surrendering… serving. Our western religious ideas are more about climbing and not about descending. We are fixated on doing it right. On being what we consider morally superior. We are obsessed with making sure we follow rules and show ourselves to be “good” people in order to have favor. The first line in Jesus’s sermon that day was “blessed are the poor in spirit”. “Blessed are those that mourn… are meek…who hunger for righteousness. He likes the merciful… the pure at heart who love… the peacemakers… the persecuted. Blessed are those that are punished because of his love”. Everything he said in his sermon was upside down, backwards and in the opposite direction of how we live today. “Love and pray for your enemies. Do not even be angry with anyone. Do not pass judgement or think you have the answers to salvation. Examine your own sin before looking to the sin you think lives in others. That is his job. Do not be showy with your faith but let your life speak for itself”. This sermon and Jesus’s life is about burying your ego and living from a place of humbleness and servitude. Mother Teresa got it. Dr. King got it. Dorothy Day… Clement Kern… Takashi Nagai all got it. I have studied each and they each exemplified one of the beatitudes. We should pray that we can live as such.
I Love You! Perry