| After last Sunday’s sermon about Jesus the Teacher, Mandy Swanson passed along this helpful recasting of the beatitudes for anyone living with faith-related questions and uncertainties. These come from the prolific, always-engaging Brian McLaren in his book, Faith After Doubt. Thank you, Mandy!
Many of us are reluctant to honor our faith-related hesitations and doubts. My experience has always been that when I have turned toward what I wasn’t sure about (or didn’t agree with) and trusted that God was somehow all wrapped up in this, God never judged me and always pointed me toward a richer, fuller, more enlivening faith. (I have SO many stories!) With this as a significant part of my faith journey, please know that it would mean the world to me to be invited to sit with you in your uncertainties and questions. I will offer you what God offered me: no judgment, only eagerness to explore together. With you on the journey, |
New BeatitudesBlessed are the curious, for their curiosity honors reality. Blessed are the uncertain and those with second thoughts, for their minds are still open. Blessed are the wonderers, for they shall find what is wonderful. Blessed are those who question their answers, for their horizons will expand forever. Blessed are those who feel foolish, for they are wiser than those who think themselves wise. Blessed are those who are scolded, suspected and labeled as heretics by the gatekeepers, for the prophets and mystics were treated in the same way by the gatekeepers of their day. Blessed are those who know their unknowing, for they shall have the last laugh. Blessed are the perplexed, for they have reached the frontiers of contemplation. Blessed are they who become cynical about their cynicism and suspicious of their suspicion, for they will enter the second innocence. Blessed are the doubters, for they shall see through false gods. Blessed are the lovers, for they shall see God everywhere. |
