This reading is about the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus. It is talking about the attitudes of heart that we are to have in our lives and in interactions with God and others and these are upside down in our way of thinking.....to be poor in spirit, to be meek, to mourn, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to have a pure heart, to be a peacemaker....and then finally to be consider yourself blessed when you are persecuted because of right living.....Oswald Chambers writes, "..the Beatitudes initially seem to be merely soothing and beautiful precepts for overly spiritual and seemingly useless people, but of very little practical use in the rigid, fast-paced workdays of the world in which we live". He continues, "The teachings of Jesus are all out of proportion when compared to our natural way of looking at things, and they come to us initially with astonishing discomfort. We gradually have to conform our walk and conversation to the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances".
When Jeremy, our eldest son, was 13 he was involved in a terrible accident. This impacted all of the family because Jeremy was profoundly injured and needed months in the hospital as well as rehabilitation, we were unable to return to Thailand to live so the two other children had to go to a new school while they were in shock with what had happened to their big brother and dealing with the loss of friends and normalcy for them too....everything had changed. I spent every day at the hospital trying to deal with the ramifications of the incident on Jeremy and the rest of the family. It was an exceedingly difficult time for all.
One day I received a phone call from the father of the young man who was driving the truck that hit and devastated Jeremy. He said, "I am sending my son to the hospital to see you so he can understand what he has done to our family". I couldn't believe what he was saying. To their family??? I asked him not to do this but he said, "He is on his way and will be there soon". He then hung up. Not 5 minutes later I saw a young man standing in the hall with a cap on his head that was pulled down to cover his eyes....standing with his head down and I just knew it was this young man, J J. Now in the past I know that I would have reacted horribly......focusing on what he had done to us.....but something had happened inside of me that I can only believe came from God changing my heart...... I went to the door and asked if he was J J and he said he was. He told me exactly what his father had just said on the phone......this was some sort of punishment for this young man to see the results of his inexperienced driving and the accident......and I felt this overwhelming pity for him. I remember putting my arm around him and asking if he was getting counseling....help for him to deal with the accident too.....he wasn't. I encouraged him to get professional help but he said this was not how his family dealt with problems. He began to ask me questions and tell me things he was concerned about and I remember just wanting him to go and get help for himself. I asked him to do that and said good by.
Why do I tell this? Because I know this was not my normal reaction......but somehow I was compelled to extend mercy and grace to this young man who was suffering too......differently but still profoundly. This is what I think this reading is about today...to have such a change in heart attitude that it naturally comes out in behaviors. I believe this was exactly what was right attitude...the one from God.....on that day.
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