Barkings Of An Old Dog

Inspired by Mimi, I’m going to throw out one of my favorite translations of the Beatitudes, from “The Message”, the only translation I know with a lifetime guarantee!

Matthew 5

You’re Blessed

1-2 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:

3″You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

4″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.

5″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.

6″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.

7″You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

8″You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

9″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.

10″You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

11-12″Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

-and-

48″In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.“

Well, I’ve been down at the local laundromat working on the week’s wash, and something keeps tugging at me that I found interesting when I first read it, and continues to hold something for me… in Marcus Borg’s latest book, he says that nobody debates whether the story of the Good Samaritan happened. It may have happened, it may not have happened, but everyone recognizes that the truth of the story is not in it’s factual details. He goes on to talk about (at least I think he goes on to talk about - hey, I’m an old dog!) that for him, that’s the right way to think about most of the Bible… if you want to spend your time talking about the factual details, well fine, but the truth of the story of Jesus is not in the details, it’s in the “more than the facts” stuff in the stories. Anyway, I’ll chew on that some more… it’s a tasty morsel.