2023.01.29 On Following—Many Beatitudes

We read in the New Testament that a small band of Jews followed Jesus of Nazareth around as he taught and preached and healed. He advocated and preached a radical renewal of the covenant between God and the people—a covenant to love God, self and neighbor in the constant, peaceful ways Jesus taught, and for which he eventually was crucified. It is a covenant of hard blessings that challenge power politics in all cultures and in all religions. 

God promises to provide grace divine with and for ALL human conditions as we try to use our freedom to love not hate, as we try and fail, and fall and flail, as we stumble and straighten, as we live and die. The delicate balance between divine grace and human freedom is precarious to say the least. So how do we respond?   

Using some natural metaphors offered by Episcopal priest and hymnist Michael Hudson, I offer some elaborations.

The grace of God is like a road—it beckons but does not drive or force.

The voice of God is like the wind—it comes and goes as we manage the “sails” of life.

    If we pull too tight, trying to control the wind, we capsize. If we don’t pull at all, fearing the wind’s power and our own, 

    we go nowhere—becalmed.  

The strength of God is like a stone—cold, hard, eventually worn thin. 

     Pick up many stones as you grow and go.  

The hope of God is like the sun by day and the stars by night—alway there 

    to guide.

The love of God is like a stream—slaking all thirsts.

The peace of God is like a friend—constant company, 

    attuned accompanist, weakened strengthener.  

Road, wind, stone, sun, stream, friend.  

You really will—never be alone, always be blessed.