Blessed Are Those

As we wrap up our two weeks on the Beatitudes, spend some time with this modern rendition of them. If there’s one that connects with you, you might want to stop reading and just hunker down with it. Sort of curl up with it, and see what it might feel like to let the truth of it into your soul, your heart, your body.

Blessed are the Demonized

Blessed are the believers who are demonized,
ostracized and accused,
those who are expelled from church
because of dogma, orientation or gender identity,
those who are called backsliders or too woke
because of radical love or inclusivity.

Blessed are those who walk with religious trauma,
for they find solidarity with the Word
who became flesh and dwelt among us,
for they are given the audacious affection
of the God who sees us.
May they be renewed
by the body and blood of Jesus himself.

Blessed are the believers who are blamed,
shaken and diminished,
those whose cultural customs are whitewashed or vilified,
named blasphemous,
those who were promised the unconditional love of Jesus,
only under certain conditions.

Blessed are the broken,
for their humanity is made whole as the Body of Christ,
for their pain is the testimony of the divine.
May they find remedy in the warmth of the red letters of Jesus himself.

Blessed are the doubters, deconstructors,
the hesitant and uncertain, those who are relearning
what it means to be in community,
those who are courageously unfolding as themselves in gathering,
those whose pulse still raises in anxiety
when walking through church doors.

Blessed are those who are taking the risk of love again,
for they are mended by the liberation of The Great Healer,
for they are nestled close to the comfort of the Creator.
May our tears be a baptism
and the incarnation of the suffering savior, Jesus himself.

- Salena Marie Scott