You're blessed ... let me tell you why.

After I wrote my May 21 entry, my friend Mary Lu quoted, in the comments, Eugene Peterson’s take on Matthew 5:4:

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.

So I went and read the rest of the passage in The Message. The beatitudes are rich stuff no matter the translation, but several other bits that really stood out to me in this one.

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. (Matthew 5:5)

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. (Matthew 5:8)

I think that’s part of what God’s trying to do in me in this season – bring me to the blessed place of getting my inside world put right and being content with who I am. And it’s not all about me or necessarily for my sake, but is pretty good for the rest of the world, I hope, as well. Only when those things happen can I appreciate and enjoy and connect with and serve others - not stuck in this place of pain and isolation. Here’s another bit:

Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)