Fortunate Are You!

"Fortunate are we when we know the poverty of our spirit;

then we glimpse God.

Fortunate are we when we mourn the brokenness in ourselves and in our world;

then we find comfort.

Fortunate are we when we are vulnerably gentle;

then the earth is our inheritance.

Fortunate are we when we hunger and thirst for justice,

for then we are satisfied.

Fortunate are we when we show mercy;

then mercy will be shown to us.

Fortunate are we when we are being authentic;

then we will see the God who is real.

Fortunate are we when we are making peace;

then we are being God's family.

Fortunate are we when we are being ridiculed and hurt for speaking loudly and doing the truth;

then we are walking in the footseps of the prophets.

When such is our being, then we are salt to preserve the earth. Then we are being light for a world groping to find its way."

What you just read is Peter Ediger's translation of Jesus' beatitudes, which we listened to together in Sunday's service. Go back and read Matthew 5:1-14, and compare the messages.

The version above substitutes "Fortunate" for "Blessed." The Greek word in the original New Testament can be translated "blessed," "fortunate," or "happy." This version also substitutes "we" for "those," making it more personal.

Go through each beatitude. How does each one apply to your life? How fortunate are you?

Be specific!

What kind of people is Jesus "teaching" us to be?

In what ways are we at St. Andrew's being "light" for our world? Or "salt?"