Blessed

So when are we "blessed?" I now that most of us think of being blessed as having all that we need - plenty of money or food, a job, gas in our car, a house to live in, etc. - basically we think of having things to be blessed. What if that is not the measure of blessing at all? What if the measure of blessing is how much peace, joy, kindness, love, and compassion - the attitudes we live life with? I think we could have all the money and pleasure in the world, but never find blessing. We could have it all and live our life with an attitude of anger, resentment, dissapoinment, and hopelessness and we would not be blessed. Here is how Jesus looked at being blessed:

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

Matthew 5:1-10

These are the beatitudes in the Message version. I challenge you to go back and read them in whatever version you want and you will find that these are arts of living, ways of living, attitudes about living life that will make you blessed. Blessed, not because of what you have on the outside, but because of how you live on the inside and what comes out of you to others. The way of Jesus.

Namaste'