Learning 'to do' the beatitudes

It's always a bit of a worry writing a blog post that assumes a reader or two... what if there isn't one? Well that doesn't matter too much, in a way I'm the reader and the explorer. I'm almost writing for my own good, to see what I write about, what I would say to help someone learn the sermon on the mount. If you look through some of my earlier posts on learning, you'll see I don't think much of preaching. So, how would I go about helping people learn to do the sermon on the mount?

Well, I guess that we could start by reading those famous few verses

They're verses that can make us glow aren't they? But how might they make us live differently?

Ok, so to work that out, I'll use the three 'ways of attending' mentioned in the last post

Ideas

So, what Ideas strike you from this reading?  What do you notice?  Don't worry at the moment whether you've got the meaning right, you can come back to that question later. For the moment we're interested in what we might do having read the passage, not what we might reliably know.

So what ideas strike you?  What gets your pulse racing?  What strikes you between the eyes? What puzzles you? What surprises you?  Do you see how we're asking very different questions to what a sermon might normally focus on?  Normally, well anyway normally within an Evangelical/'bible-believing' church context I know, we'd focus on questions about the meaning.  But we're interested in what we're going to do, not what we might know, so we ask different questions.

For me, and there's nothing new here, I notice how God's standards turn the world's standards upside down. Jesus seems to think that the 'wrong people' are blessed. (it's even more striking in the Luke version).

Now, If I'm surprised at the sort of people who Jesus thinks are blessed, does that mean that I've got some 'wrong headed' and unhelpful ideas about what Jesus values?  And will my wrong headedness lead me into lifestyle decisions that don't help me become more like Jesus?

Inquiry

The thing to do with questions is to find answers, and the method for that is inquiry. Now, I don't know what 'ideas' struck you, maybe different to mine but now is the time to ask how you can take things further. Two actions to choose from, you can either seek to explore or experiment. Both of these inquiry methods will help you get some answers to the questions that the ideas from the passage opened up.

What you want to think about now is (a) do I need to explore that idea further or (b) can I try something out.

So, for me, I'm challenged by the high value that I put on success, doing my job well, being praised for doing a good job. It's all too important to me. Now, maybe I could think about giving up my present job and going for a less prestigious one? I think that the work I'm doing is what God has called me to do, but maybe I could do it in a different context (not a university).  Now, I might be able to explore that idea further when I go on retreat next week, but I might also be able to experiment with some ideas.  Just giving up my job would, I think, be too extreme, but what could I do that would try out a new way of valuing 'success'? Two options spring to mind. I've got to write a report on a project that I've been involved in. I don't think that I'm going to write a good report (too long to explain why) and I've been delaying, putting off the evil day when I'm criticised, and maybe found wanting by colleagues I value, maybe I won't be asked to do a project again?  How will I handle that? Secondly, I'm going to try to organise some time over the winter to take my work up to a community house I know well. What will it be like to fit my academic research writing within the rhythms of a 'monastic' day?

So what explorations or experiments could you try to test out your emerging 'ideas'?

Relations

Learning is rarely done well on our own. Who can you bring into your new learning journey?  Who will ask you challenging questions? Who will pick you up if you make a mess of your 'experiment'? Who will encourage you and value you in your learning efforts? Who will take the time to walk alongside you?

There's more to a 'noticing of relations' than that, but it will do for the moment.

So, are you going to come on a learning journey with me? 

Comments

[Clay Brackeen]

Thank you for your blog. I stumbled in this evening (from Texas) while searching "Celtic Daily Prayer." I read (and enjoyed) about 5 entries, and I look forward to coming back to read more.
I too write "for myself," but it is a blessing to know that others have read and commented. Thank you for sharing what has made a difference in your life. It makes a difference...
God bless you!

[jane]

thanks for this post about the Beatitudes - I really sense that I am going to enjoy coming back to your blog time and again so thanks for writing.

The Beatitudes so wonderful and I'm always moved when I am staying in a community to find them being prayed quite simply at midday as part of the daily office.

A Jewish translation into French of the Beatitudes has changed my understanding of them a bit - I love your very personal view of them by the way, anchored in your daily life and experience - André Chouraqui translates Makarios - Blessed as Debout in French - or "stand up" - it brings out a more activist side to the beatitudes but also a resurrection element I think.

Anyway thansk for writing, I'm looking forward to coming back and reading more.

[Pastor Bill]

Just started a conversation with my community about these Kingdom Truth i.e. beatitudes. The following is where we are at this point.
1st It is good to know we are in need
2nd God is looking for people in need.
3rd God doesn't care much for perfection (real or Imagined)
4th The journey begins when we get it. It was always meant to be worked on, weakness is the potential in the system.

well we are only to the second Kingdom truth so that all so far.