Jesus blessed history’s losers. No wonder people all those years ago had listened. No wonder they remembered and wrote it down. No wonder it is still so powerful two millennia later. The blessings were protest against injustice.
I looked down from the artificial hillside, and my heart moved as I watched the crowds. I held my sign up higher and shouted, “Blessed are the poor!” Some women yelled back, “Blessed are the poor!” And others cheered. Yes, they cheered the Beatitudes.
And tears came. The day before, I had cried because I was afraid and sad. But on this day I cried because of blessings. For the first time in two months, I felt grateful.
From “Grateful” by Diana Butler Bass – HarperOne