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
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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