The Beatitudes - The poor in spirit
While listening to a conversation between Krista Tippett and the poet Michael Longley on the NPR program “On Being” I heard Mr. Longley refer to Jesus “as a proto-socialist. And the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, are as good a system to live by as any that I can think of.” Of course, I thought. I have long believed that Jesus was advocating a shared approach to using resources and taking care of each other. This led to my decision to revisit the Beatitudes. Yesterday, since I had recently been writing on the dynamics between the bully and the bullied I wrote on “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Today I want to turn my attention to “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
There seems to be a lot of disagreement about the message which Jesus intended others to hear in this simple sentence. Many biblical scholars have understood the use of the Greek word ptòchos to mean humble. If this is true that the sentence now reads, “Blessed are the humble for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Certainly this could be consistent with the overall message of Jesus – that of the sacredness and equality of all of we humans. When we are truly humble, we are making a sincere attempt to understand and accept that we are and do not need to be more or less than our neighbor. Each of us has special gifts and talents which are valuable to the whole of the community. My friend K who has a brother who is mentally challenged, is grateful for the simplicity of his brother’s faith. K has been blessed with a mind which is wonderful for problem solving, but that very fine mind also can easily complicate issues which his brother finds simple. His brother, S, simply loves unconditionally. If someone makes him unhappy or he does not like something S will let the person know but a second later he is reminding the person that he loves them. K’s mind is more likely to obsess and analyze the behavior of the person who may have seemed unkind.
The humble person is certainly able to love more completely and unconditionally. They have nothing to prove. It is enough to be human. This definition certainly works with the overall understanding of the beliefs of man who is called Jesus. Humility makes loving and being loved possible.
If we now look at the second important word in this sentence, penuma which can be translated as wind, breath or spirit, the term humble still works. Breath (or pulse) is, after all, what we attempt to detect when we need to determine if someone is still living. When I think of breath I think of life and the essence of the person who is my friend, neighbor, lover, child, co-worker or stranger. When that person is present with humility and when I am willing to be truly present, with humility, we can create miracles together.
I certainly do not want to discount the possibility that Jesus was talking about those who are humbly present. My mind, however, goes to those who suffer from a mental illness, a deep grief, or some other condition which has sapped their life force. Depression, including the depression of deep grief, leaves one unable to see the colors – the positives. It also leaves one unable to have a sense of time. Not only is the world dark and without positives it has always been that way and will always be that way in the future. Thus, there is no movement. One is in this dark space forever. Every breath is an effort and a curse. One does not feel as if one can go on or that there is any purpose for going on. Yet, many with severe mental illness struggle to continue to care for others and to give much to their neighbors. One has only to think of famous people who live or lived with mental illness – people such as Abraham Lincoln, Buzz Aldrin, Beethoven, Judy Collins, Calvin Coolidge, and a host of others. This morning I was listening to an NPR program about how addiction kidnaps and creates misery for not only the addicted individuals but all who lives are touched by the addiction.
One can easily imagine Jesus reaching out to those who life essence is being sucked out of them by conditions which affect their ability to live and love. Thus, the poor in spirit become those whose spirit is not present; whose spirit has been stolen by depression or other conditions of the brain. This Beatitude would remind us that we need to offer compassion and comfort to the poor in spirit – to the mentally ill and those with other disorders which limit, at best, their ability to have a quality life. This reminder of Jesus would dictate that we immediately get the mentally ill out of prisons and jails and into treatment facilities where they are treated as the sacred human beings that they are. This Beatitude would remind us of the millions who are homeless because of mental illness, addiction or other diseases. This Beatitude would remind us that if we are truly humble we know that our ability to function today is very fragile and we could be homeless, the one in jail for an illness, the one who is feared and avoided. This Beatitude would remind us that quality health care is a right and not a privilege to be determined by the amount of money we have so as to feed the addiction of insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies staff – addiction to power and money.
This Beatitude reminds us that indeed we are our brothers (and sisters) keeper. If the poet Michael Longley is right than Jesus is indeed a proto-socialist.
Written November 6, 2016
While listening to a conversation between Krista Tippett and the poet Michael Longley on the NPR program “On Being” I heard Mr. Longley refer to Jesus “as a proto-socialist. And the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, are as good a system to live by as any that I can think of.” Of course, I thought. I have long believed that Jesus was advocating a shared approach to using resources and taking care of each other. This led to my decision to revisit the Beatitudes. Yesterday, since I had recently been writing on the dynamics between the bully and the bullied I wrote on “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Today I want to turn my attention to “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
There seems to be a lot of disagreement about the message which Jesus intended others to hear in this simple sentence. Many biblical scholars have understood the use of the Greek word ptòchos to mean humble. If this is true that the sentence now reads, “Blessed are the humble for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Certainly this could be consistent with the overall message of Jesus – that of the sacredness and equality of all of we humans. When we are truly humble, we are making a sincere attempt to understand and accept that we are and do not need to be more or less than our neighbor. Each of us has special gifts and talents which are valuable to the whole of the community. My friend K who has a brother who is mentally challenged, is grateful for the simplicity of his brother’s faith. K has been blessed with a mind which is wonderful for problem solving, but that very fine mind also can easily complicate issues which his brother finds simple. His brother, S, simply loves unconditionally. If someone makes him unhappy or he does not like something S will let the person know but a second later he is reminding the person that he loves them. K’s mind is more likely to obsess and analyze the behavior of the person who may have seemed unkind.
The humble person is certainly able to love more completely and unconditionally. They have nothing to prove. It is enough to be human. This definition certainly works with the overall understanding of the beliefs of man who is called Jesus. Humility makes loving and being loved possible.
If we now look at the second important word in this sentence, penuma which can be translated as wind, breath or spirit, the term humble still works. Breath (or pulse) is, after all, what we attempt to detect when we need to determine if someone is still living. When I think of breath I think of life and the essence of the person who is my friend, neighbor, lover, child, co-worker or stranger. When that person is present with humility and when I am willing to be truly present, with humility, we can create miracles together.
I certainly do not want to discount the possibility that Jesus was talking about those who are humbly present. My mind, however, goes to those who suffer from a mental illness, a deep grief, or some other condition which has sapped their life force. Depression, including the depression of deep grief, leaves one unable to see the colors – the positives. It also leaves one unable to have a sense of time. Not only is the world dark and without positives it has always been that way and will always be that way in the future. Thus, there is no movement. One is in this dark space forever. Every breath is an effort and a curse. One does not feel as if one can go on or that there is any purpose for going on. Yet, many with severe mental illness struggle to continue to care for others and to give much to their neighbors. One has only to think of famous people who live or lived with mental illness – people such as Abraham Lincoln, Buzz Aldrin, Beethoven, Judy Collins, Calvin Coolidge, and a host of others. This morning I was listening to an NPR program about how addiction kidnaps and creates misery for not only the addicted individuals but all who lives are touched by the addiction.
One can easily imagine Jesus reaching out to those who life essence is being sucked out of them by conditions which affect their ability to live and love. Thus, the poor in spirit become those whose spirit is not present; whose spirit has been stolen by depression or other conditions of the brain. This Beatitude would remind us that we need to offer compassion and comfort to the poor in spirit – to the mentally ill and those with other disorders which limit, at best, their ability to have a quality life. This reminder of Jesus would dictate that we immediately get the mentally ill out of prisons and jails and into treatment facilities where they are treated as the sacred human beings that they are. This Beatitude would remind us of the millions who are homeless because of mental illness, addiction or other diseases. This Beatitude would remind us that if we are truly humble we know that our ability to function today is very fragile and we could be homeless, the one in jail for an illness, the one who is feared and avoided. This Beatitude would remind us that quality health care is a right and not a privilege to be determined by the amount of money we have so as to feed the addiction of insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies staff – addiction to power and money.
This Beatitude reminds us that indeed we are our brothers (and sisters) keeper. If the poet Michael Longley is right than Jesus is indeed a proto-socialist.
Written November 6, 2016
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