The Beatitudes

Dear Diary,

I am relishing all the evenings off in recent days. =) Even have time to follow that Korean drama serial “Hearts of 19” at 7pm each day, haha… Feels really good indeed! ;-) Of course, the mood sank a little when I saw next Tuesday’s roster that I will be working from 10.30am to 1am. Good gracious! The rest are going to have their Dinner & Dance… oh well… Already appreciative of the fact that my boss tried to help me to join this D&D despite the fact that I am not eligible because of my resignation. She failed anyway. Nonetheless, I had a good 60-min Javanese massage at “The Ultimate” spa in Shaw Centre this afternoon. The masseur was a male and I was appreciative that he was close to 60 years old. I would have felt “gayish” if that masseur was a guy my age… yucks! Thankfully not! Haha… He was pretty nice and skilful as I chatted with him. I went for a steam bath but it wasn’t that a big deal seriously. Sat there on the stone platform and the steam periodically sprayed on.

Have been clearing leaves and enjoying every moment of it, haha… I guess I am getting all the well-deserved rest after such a long period of work! =) Yesterday was also a great day. In fact, it was the first day that I am officially no longer the resident pharmacy at Parkway branch! Yup… that was my branch if you haven’t already know. I won’t be working there much anymore. Probably rotated around the various outlets till I leave the company. Nope, that is not the reason why that day was good, haha… Rather it was my younger sister who asked me out for a cycling date, haha… So yesterday morning, I drove her to East Coast Park at 9am. Then we rented bicycles to cycle for 2 hours. It only cost us $3/hour/bike… much cheaper than I can ever imagine. We basically leisurely rode and chatted along the way. I suspect we cycled about 20km. We saw some people doing water skiing in a lake with a cable dragging them along. Seemed like safe fun, haha… Surprisingly, there was so much to chat with my sister. I hardly have a chance to chat with her because she is a teacher and when I am awake she’s out at work, when I am back from work she’s asleep. It was nice riding along the beach with her, haha… Then drove to Parkway Parade because she wanted to buy some stuff from Cold Storage to make her own salad. Basically, the point is that life is suddenly so colourful and so “un-routine”, haha… Yay! ;-)

I was reading the eight Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3 – 10) which marked the opening of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus Christ. The text of St Matthew runs as follows:
· Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
· Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land.
· Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
· Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
· Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
· Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
· Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
· Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

When I first read the first beatitude, I was puzzled why a person who is poor in spirit is a blessed person. Poor in spirit meant to me as someone lacking of faith, morals and spirituality. However, what it really meant in Aramaic was being “bent in humility”. Acknowledging their need for Divine help. The “poor” does not mean just economic need but their entire situation of being “poor”. This also means their helplessness, their defenceless position of being exploited by the rich and the mighty. “In spirit” talks about the being willing to bear this painfully humbling hardship for God’s sake. So, a rich and happy man may still fall into this category while a poor man need not necessarily be “poor in spirit”. God promises the heavenly kingdom on the condition of the heart and not on the actual external condition of poverty. Whew… hahaha…

The second beatitude seems to me pretty much similar to the first. “Poor in spirit” is meek, isn’t it? Haha… This phrase from the second beatitude is actually similar to the one from Psalm 36:11 where it speaks about inheriting the Promised Land in peace. The land in this case, could metaphorically mean the kingdom of heaven? Okay, I just equated it back to the first beatitude. Maybe someone can enlighten me on this, haha…

I believe that the third beatitude speaks of mourning, it is not about lack of frivolous worldly joy. The mourning is probably about a righteous man suffering in abstinence and endurance against the evil of this world. Maybe someone who mourns at how the world has degraded in moral values and practices. While we can enjoy the joys of this world, we must be wary about “loving” the lures of it. Not sure if I phrase it right, haha…

For the fourth beatitude, it is pretty straight forward… if you have hunger and thirst for justice… an active and strong desire for moral perfection, the reward will be the fulfilment of this desire which means you will actually grow in holiness and be more Christ-like as you persevere.

Can I approximate forgiveness to mercy? In the fifth beatitude, it seems to me to be slightly parallel to forgiving others because of the forgiveness we receive from God (The Lord’s Prayer). So show mercy to people around us as God has shown us mercy freely. Not sure if that is the right interpretation though. Hmmm…

It only gets tougher… For the sixth beatitude… hmmm… I postulate that the cleanness of the heart is more than just a pure conscience. It is about sincere good intentions and the continuous striving for God’s glory. And in doing so, will see God Himself eventually in the final completion of the kingdom of heaven.

In the seventh beatitude, we are to be the peacemakers which means we live in peace with others, promote peace and friendship between mankind and between man and God. In a way, we imitate the love of God on Earth and be an ambassador for Him to the world. In doing that, we are made children of God. In Matthew 5:45, we see that we should love and pray for our enemies, and God will make us His children.

Okay, the last one. The eighth beatitude sums up everything… even if we do all the earlier seven beatitudes and yet still face persecution and ingratitude from others, count it as a blessing because of the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven! Geesshhh… that is really hard!

Sigh… after typing and thinking about each beatitudes, I realise I don’t really understand some of these biblical passages even I have read them so many times. Even in my limited understanding of the beatitudes, I am already in awe of the magnitude of the task before me. Yet in God’s grace, all things are possible. Thank God for that.

That’s all for now… have a good night!

God Bless,

Andrew