New Beatitudes

First, here are some new beatitudes by Simon Woodman:

Blessed are those who refuse the lie that one life is worth more than any other, for theirs is the future of humanity.
Blessed are those who have stared long into the abyss, for theirs is honesty beyond grief.
Blessed are those who resist retaliation, for the earth will never be won by force.
Blessed are those who would rather die for truth than live with compromise, for the truth will outlive all lies.
Blessed are those who forgive the unforgivable, for they have seen the darkness of their own souls.
Blessed are those who know themselves truly, for they have seen themselves as God sees them.
Blessed are those who are provocatively nonviolent, for they are following the path of the son of God.
Blessed are those who choose to receive violence but not to give it, for the future is born out of such choices.
Blessed are you when you stand up for truth and hell itself decides to try and destroy you.
You’re not the first and you won’t be the last.

I’m telling you now, nothing makes any sense unless you learn see it differently,
and then choose to live that alternative into being.

– Simon Woodman

And now, here is a new setting of the older and more familiar beatitudes, by Thomas Lloyd:

The piece is from a larger choral theatrical work entitled Bonhoeffer. Here is a selection of excerpts: