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Sunday Musings - November 26, 2023

11/25/2023

Sunday Musings - November 26, 2023

Today I continue my examination of and mediation on what is commonly referred to as The Beatitudes as contained in the book of Matthew.  The beatitude for today is: “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.”

What immediately comes to mind when I hear or read the word meek is the opposite of strong or courageous.   I would generally not ask a meek person to be the one to speak a difficult or uncomfortable truth.  Generally, in that situation, I want someone who is willing to risk others disagreeing with or even being angry with them; a person whose main goal is to humbly express an opinion; not to be liked or even appreciated.

Why then is Jesus suggesting that the meek be blessed?  Let’s examine the word meek.  The Greek word in Matthew 5:5 which is generally translated as meek is praus. It can also be translated as humble, gentle or mild.  The Hebrew word for meek is anaw which generally refers to one who is afflicted or bearing a heavy burden; perhaps a person who is willing to take on a heavy burden. The origin of the word meek in English comes from the Old Norse, mjukr which may be translated as gentle or strength under control.

Praus can thus be associated with humble.  A meek person is someone who does not have a need to blow his or her own horn; a person brave enough to offer an opinion or take charge but whose goal is not to look good or gain favor; a person who can offer a potentially unpopular opinion or point of view.  For example, Vera Brittain in her three volume Testament of Youth suggests that if one wants to understand and prevent another Third Reich one must consider the tragic results of how the Allies treated Germany following WWI.
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The meek person may posit: “If one wants to understand the bombing on September 1, 2001 one needs to carefully examine the history of the United States towards other countries prior to that date.”  The meek person might suggest one should act and not react.  A meek person does not condone 9/11, the many recent mass shootings in the United States, the October 7th mass murders by Hamas or the seeming greed which may be the main motivation of a business owner who knows their product is hurtful. They also do not examine such events as if they happened in a vacuum; outside of a historical context.

Most religious teachings suggest one be strong enough to be humble; to admit that all we humans commit deeds which are hurtful to others and Mother Earth; to admit that all make grave mistakes from which we must learn; to admit that our thinking and behavior may, at times, be based on fear, the desire for approval or the need to be seen as powerful. We humans can only be our best or grow in a positive direction if we are willing to admits we can learn from mistakes and keep searching for more effective solutions.

One might think of Martin Luther King, Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Niemoeller, Mya Angelou, the musicians who created the Holocaust Music as they waited for their turn in the gas chambers or a host of others strong, humble people as meek as those whose truth shall make us free.

Blessed are the meek for they will lead the way to protect the climate and the future of earth.  Blessed are the meek for they shall proclaim that more violence - more assault type weapons- more conspiracy theories - more storming of the United State Capitol - more unhealthy food - will not lead to an earth which in inhabited by humans or even an earth which continues to exist.

Blessed are the truth tellers who do not have another agenda for they shall lead the way to peace.  Blessed are those who are not driven by fear. Blessed are those whose strength is internal.  Blessed are those who stand quietly strong.

Blessed are those who bravely and quietly practice their belief in the sacredness of daily life.  Blessed are those who take seriously the teaching to free the prisoners and give treatment to those who need it while humbly and lovingly restraining those who cannot experience a shared reality.   Blessed are those who do not justify salaries of millions while one person remains hungry or homeless. Blessed are those who walk the talk with humility.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

Written November 26, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org

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Sunday Musings - November 19, 2023

11/18/2023

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Sunday musings - November 19, 2023

Last Sunday, November 12, I committed to taking a closer look at the passages in the Gospel of Matthew which are known as the Beatitudes.  I began with the verse in Chapter 5 which reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  This week I want to consider the second beatitude, “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.”

The common interpretation of this promise is the promise of comfort to those who mourn the loss of a loved one.  No matter what one’s religious beliefs about what happens post physical, earthy death, most of us experience a sense of grief and loss when someone we loved dies.  We expect our loved ones to live many decades.  Even when one does live that long, it may seem as if the time has been too short.

Some biblical commentators suggest the intent of this teaching is to remind the reader to mourn our own sin and the version of ourselves once ruled by the ways of the world.  While no one can doubt the value of recognizing and admitting that one has “sinned”; that one has hurt others and in so doing have separated themselves from the whole thus hurting themselves, we have all suffered harm for which we must mourn.   Some scholars including Resmaa Menakem in his book My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma And The Pathway To Mending Our Hearts and Bodies state there is evidence that we humans carry effects of trauma over generations – over hundreds or thousands of years. Thus, when reacting to current trauma we may also be reacting to past unresolved trauma.   A recent example is the reaction of the state of Israel to the terrible October 7, 2023, actions by Hamas.  The leaders of the state of Israel are not that far removed from the trauma of the Holocaust; the trauma of antisemitism in the form of pogroms; the overt antisemitism by such lauded leaders in the United States as Henry Ford and the editors of the Ford newsletter; of the treatment of Jews by the Christian church over the centuries; of the current terrorist style shootings at such places as the Tree of Life Synagogue.  At the same time, one needs to consider the trauma history of the Palestinians including the history prior to and since 1947.

If one is, in fact, reacting to the collective trauma of a group of people it is not surprising that the reaction is extreme; as extreme as the action which preceded it.  This is not to say that the extreme reaction of either side is justifiable, moral or to be lauded. To understand the long history which precedes any action is not to justify or condone that action.

Blessed are those who mourn may include those whose history of oppressive violence erupts in more violence.  Perhaps Jesus is reminding the student that the absence of mourning; the absence of healing rituals; the absence of a collective mourning has grave consequences for the individual and the collective body which might be the family, the local community, the state, or the nation.

I often read the report of a recent violent action, of one of the mass terroristic shootings in the United States, or reports of someone being sentence to jail/prison.   It seems to me that 99% of the time one is hard pressed to find a hint of empathy for the person or persons who committed the violent action.  Whether the violent action is the result of a person’s brain being unable to consider the sacred humanity of another or because of the history of unmourn violence we need to collectively mourn not only the person who was most recently affected by violence but the hurt or injured person who did the injury.  As I have suggested in previous blogs or other writings, there are victims and victims.  There are not victims and perpetrators.  I have also strongly suggested that there are those whose brains are unable to consider the needs and rights of others.  Some may be treatable in a secure facility.  If not treatable then may need to be in a long term facility where they are treated with love and respect; not as throw away evil non-humans.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.  In other passages Jesus is quoted as teaching that no one is able to judge another – to throw the first stone.  Jesus is also quoted as saying we are to “Pray for one’s enemy.“ In other words we are to mourn our own hurts as well as the hurts of others. Without mourning, there is no healing.  Without mourning there is no end to the cycle of violence.  Without mourning there is no comforting.

Mourning promotes healing for the individual and for the collective.

We need a new dance.  We deserve a new dance. We have the power to create a new dance.

Blessed are those who mourn – for themselves and others. Blessed are those who offer comfort. Blessed are those who are comforted.

Written November 19, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org

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Sunday Musings - November 12, 2023

11/12/2023

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Sunday Musings - November 12, 2023

I have often pondered and attempted to research the possible etiology of the thinking of Jesus and others who echo his teaching in the beatitudes as recorded in the Christian texts of Matthew and Luke.

In each account the Greek word which is usually translated as blessed is makarios which can also be translated as happy, blissful, or self-contained happiness.  Interestingly, the island of Cyprus was also called “the happy isle”.  Many associated the word makarios with the isle.  The people on the isle believed that the perfect climate and the fertile soil provided all they needed to be happy.  (Christianity.com)

Thus, one might assume that the intent of these teachings of Jesus was to remind we humans we can be content; at peace with ourselves, be happy if we are poor in spirit.

What could it mean to be poor in spirit?  Most Biblical commentators have suggested that the intent of this first beatitude is to remind we humans the more accepting we are of the limitation of our humanness the richer or more blessed we are.  We humans cannot have the perspective of the God of our understanding; a god who perceives beyond our limitations of time and space.  We humans perceive and understand only a silver of reality which is clouded by our history and how our brains translate that silver.

It is only when we accept that we merely perceive and understand a clouded sliver that we are humble enough to learn; to forego the temptation of thinking we know all there is to know about an object, situation, or person.

We often applaud the person or persons who envisions the impossible; the person, for example, who postulates that sound ways generated by objects, people or animals can travel and be translated by someone some distance from where it originated.  We humans communicate with drums, smoke, wires and finally through a series of wireless transmitters.  With 5G and other new technologies the magic continues to expand. Magic is, after all, the ability to imagine the impossible; the ability to take a step closer to the perspective of vision of the God of our understanding; to that which is “I am”.

The poor is spirit perhaps are those who know and are at peace with the fact that the most visionary of us humans are still a zillion miles from “knowing” what is possible; from seeing into the heart and mind of another; from loving unconditionally; from being in a position to judge another; from dissolving all the socially constructed barriers such as race, nation, religion, gender and other constructs which keep we humans distant from each other.

The poor is spirit can only trust that they do not “know”; can only attempt to open their hearts and minds to trust what they cannot see; to listen for what they cannot hear; to scent what they cannot smell; to know that they are merely players on this stage of life; to accept that the most complex of person created symphonies cannot approach the symphony composed of the complexity of the interaction of the parts of the universe; to trust that time is a limited measuring tool; to relax with the knowledge that the most complex of our mathematical theories are a limited language for describing the interrelationship of all that is.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; for theirs is the universes to explore and receive in tiny, digestible bites.

Next week I will invite us to meditate on “Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Written November 12, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org

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Sunday Musings - November 5, 20223

11/4/2023

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Sunday musings - November 5, 2023

As is true with a large percentage of the population of the world, I am acutely aware of the violence we humans daily inflict on each other.  From domestic violence to terrorist attacks to mass shooting, to oppression based on religion, political beliefs, or other social constructs, we invent reasons or excuses to feed our denial that all on this planet thrive together or all perish together.  On a purely scientific, logical level violence makes no sense. It makes no sense on any level.   Science and history repeatedly remind us that violence feeds violence.

As the theologian and Episcopal priest, Bonnie Thurston recently reminded the congregation at St. Matthews in Wheeling, the teacher Jesus and many other wise men and women have reminded us that love for the “I am” - the god of our understanding - is evidenced by how seriously we do our best to love ourselves and love our neighbor as ourselves.  One might suggest that this teaching includes all of Mother Earth.  Science again tells us that how we treat the earth either feeds or kills us.  We cannot claim to love while doing all we can to poison the air and the water. Yet, we humans seem all too ready to hide behind the lies; the lie that violence bring long terms peace; that manufacturing and selling goods which we do not need and which damage the air and all the earth is good for the economy and thus good or all that inhabit the earth; that it is better to use anger and vengeance to mask our fear of facing the log in our own eye than it is to lovingly and humbly face our human pain and limitations.

Most of us can understand the desire to avoid facing the fear that we are not enough; the fear that the gas chambers will be relit; the fear that some other religion or culture is going to strip away the seemingly safe cocoon of our social and cultural constructs to reveal wider visions and possibilities; the fear that if we do not destroy those who seek to destroy us they will kill us, our partner and our children; the fear that if one removes the cloak of toxic masculinity which often leads to emotional and physical abuse one will cease to exist; the fear a vengeful, narcissistic construct of God will punish one if one does not allow every potential sperm and egg to create a person who may or may not be healthy, wanted or needed; the fear someone else might speak a larger truth; the fear that if we face our fear and honor the fear of those we would call our enemy we will cease to exist; the fear we will anger the God of our understanding if we honor the desire to love and be loved regardless of gender.

Since we humans emerged from the primordial cave some few have been the misfits who have dared to love; who have dared to dream; who have dared to see the kinship of all of life; who have torn down the socially constructed barriers which create loneliness which leads to fear; the fear that leads to the label of enemies which leads to violence which leads to retreating to the cave too afraid to take what Soren Kierkegaard and others have called the leap of faith.

In the Christian church one often hears the word Grace which many understand as unconditional love.  If the members of Hamas had the courage to love the Jewish people unconditionally; if the Jewish people had the courage to embrace the Palestinians including the members of Hamas; if members of any oppressed culture had the courage to love instead of hate it would be literally disarming - not immediately and not without some short term risks, but the result would echo the actions and words of Bigger Thomas, the chief character in Richard Wright’s Native Son .  Bigger says to the police person, “You can’t do nonthin to me but kill me and that ain’t nothin.”  Bigger knows that this life journey lasts but a second; that all that counts is to stand proud and strong refusing to respond in hate.

There are many who follow the example of Bigger Thomas. There have been, for years,  many Jews and Palestinians meeting together in peace.   Long before civil rights legislation there were those of many backgrounds who worked, loved, and lived together.  There are many who have been abused who refuse to pass on the abuse. All of us can choose to be part of that many; to make manifest the spirit of Jesus, Bigger Thomas, Martin Luther King, Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Sister Theresa, Bonnie Thurston, and many others.

I am again reminded of the engine who could.  I believe, barring mental illness (dysfunctions of the brain), we are all engines who can. We can and we must if we are to survive and thrive.

Written November 5, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org

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Sunday Musings - November 26, 2023

Sunday Musings - November 19, 2023

Sunday Musings - November 12, 2023

Sunday Musings - November 5, 20223

Jimmy Pickett is a life student who happens to be a licensed counselor and an addiction counselor. He is a student of Buddhism with a background of Christianity and a Native American heritage.

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Sunday Musings - November 26, 2023

Sunday Musings - November 19, 2023

Sunday Musings - November 12, 2023

Sunday Musings - November 5, 20223

Jimmy Pickett is a life student who happens to be a licensed counselor and an addiction counselor. He is a student of Buddhism with a background of Christianity and a Native American heritage.

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