In Nadia Bolz-Weber’s book Accidental Saints, she challenges:
“What if the Beatitudes (in the New Testament) aren’t about a list of conditions we should try to meet to be blessed? What if they are not virtues we should aspire to? What if Jesus saying “blessed are the meek” is not instructive but performative—that the pronouncement of blessing is actually what confers the blessing itself? Maybe the Sermon on the Mount is all about Jesus’ lavish blessing of the people around him on the hill side, blessing all accidental saints in this world, especially those who that world-like-ours didn’t seem to have much time for: people in pain, people who work for peace, instead of profit, people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance.”
In this list of Beatitudes Last Battle style, I wanted to make sure I saw you and conveyed that you knew you are honored. Since this list is not exhaustive, let’s fill in the gaps together. I want to issue these beatitudes frequently. We are designed for this recognition.
So here are the Beatitudes Last Battle style.
Blessed are they who stand in the unknown & hope all the same
Blessed are they who fear the night.
Blessed are the truth-tellers & bubble poppers.
Blessed are the silently hurting who aborted and/or relinquished their children.
Blessed are those who don’t have the luxury of not-believing in God.
Blessed are they who rise and meet the demands of the day, while suffering flashbacks.
Blessed are they who mourn alone because they have pain no one can see.
Blessed are they who reach out for help, while struggling to know who to trust.
Blessed are they who shed tears for the pain of those they know, deliver meals & write encouraging texts.
Blessed are they who doubt God & choose conflict over false peace.
Blessed are the children who tell what’s happening to them without knowing if someone will care.
Blessed are they who have lost family & friends in their efforts to stand up for themselves and/or their children.
Blessed are they who have been tender to those hardened by pain.
Blessed are they who seek to heal in the dark & in the dust of others’ forgetting.
Blessed are they who parent with humility & open hearts after suffering childhood abuse and neglect.
Blessed are they who vigilantly protect the innocence of others, after their own has been robbed.
Blessed are they who give sacrificially after their generosity has been exploited.
Blessed are the spouses, the therapists, the pastors, the writers, the publishers, the attorneys, the parents, the siblings, & the medical community who shoulder—like good shepherds—the wounded and lost lambs of God