Blessed Are You

"Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man." Luke 6:20-22

I am getting in my car in a few minutes and driving to Cambridge, Massachusetts for one last stay at seminary. I have been the Procter Fellow this semester and have had some time to research and reflect while I was there. I can back and forth to home, and found it harder to go back every time. Not because I wasn't having a fruitful time, nor that anything negative happened. Instead, I was sick several times and went to and fro rather weakened and discouraged. I have felt as if my best effort wasn't enough. Along with that, my seminary experience was challenging for me spiritually and emotionally, and although that was long ago, it still inhabits the space for me.

Jesus teaches on a level place beside a hill side. I have always imagined these words were said on some mild afternoon when the world was covered in flower petals and folks could sit in soft grass. Ever the romantic, I know. But Jesus is talking to the people and the disciples, right where they are. In the midst of their hunger, their sense of failure and misunderstanding, their abject confusion with the life God has given them. He promises them that they are blessed, even when it doesn't appear that way. Even when all signs are to the contrary, Jesus says they are blessed.

So, I can set out today, knowing I am blessed, despite all of the signs to the contrary. I can engage the project one more time, despite the challenges that I have faced, knowing that I am blessed even in the midst of struggle. We can all set out today, no matter what we face, knowing that we are blessed by the love of God. We can go forward, trusting that God is blessing us, no matter what the rest of the world is doing. May we all have the strength today to share that blessing with others. May we scatter bright petals on their way, so that for a moment, they might know that they are beloved and blessed by God.