More S*^! Jesus Says

I’m working/praying/stumbling my way through a sermon series on the Beatitudes, otherwise known at my place as S*^! Jesus Says. In getting to the heart of these simple yet soul-shifting imperatives, I find it helpful to start with that which Jesus did not say:

So, for week 2, S*^! Jesus Did Not Say:

—Blessed are they who avoid nursing homes, hospitals, and funerals, for fear of their own human frailty.

–Blessed are those who think divorce is contagious, and steer clear of their heartbroken friends for fear of catching it.

–Blessed are you when you say, “I’ve been meaning to call. But i just wouldn’t know what to say…

What Jesus does say?

—Blessed are those who mourn.

And, what I reckon he meant, based on other stuff he said, and everything he did:

 –Blessed are those who grieve, because I am with them. I feel their pain as deeply as if it were my own. That’s kind of my thing.

—Blessed are you when you can feel the pain of another as deeply as your own.Because that’s when you will finally get what I’m all about, and know how much I love you.

–Blessed are you, whose heart breaks for the world every day. Because that is when I will show you where to help, where to heal, where to be simply present as my body, alive and moving.