‘What if what you do to survive kills the things you love, fear’s a
powerful thing…’

 (Devils & Dust, Bruce Springsteen)

The Maze

The ‘perennial popularity’ of the Sermon on the Mount, both within
and beyond the Church, has ensured its subjection (particularly that of the beatitudes
contained within it) to unparalleled variations of interpretation.[1]  One can lose their way in unresolved
questions: To whom
was Jesus primarily speaking, the disciples or the crowds?  Are His proclamations a radical break from
tradition, or do they reveal the heart of the Torah?  Is Jesus proclaiming entry requirements for
the Kingdom, or describing the true nature of one already in it?  Is this a blueprint for humanity, or is He
just addressing ‘mature Christians’?   

The Guide

As a guide through this maze I
have in front of me a painting I made by ‘mistake’ a few years ago.  It is of a woman, looking
down and full of sorrow. 

For me, she
manifests the first three beatitudes: she knows she is poor in spirit, mourns
that state, and, therefore, can not help but be meek.  The remaining five then tumble in to place on
the back of these: she knows she is empty, so she longs to be filled with that
which truly satisfies, and it is this fullness, in turn, which empowers her to
live a generous, merciful life, pure of heart, making peace and able to rejoice
(or at least to know herself ‘blessed’) in persecution.[2]  Keeping the first three in mind at all times,
she does not have recourse to self-congratulation for her behaviour, making
these three ‘attitudinal’ beatitudes, for me, foundational (if only it were
that easy!).  It is, however, the making
of this image that interests me most.  I
covered a page in black paint and then, with swift swipes of a small sponge,
removed the paint until an image emerged. 
As Springsteen says, we cover our selves in layers of protection in
order to be ‘safe’: we need to be strong, rich, ‘happy’, satisfied, assertive and
respected: in essence self-sufficient. 
Yet, ironically, this self-sufficiency obscures, even destroys, the
thing we value most: love.  Jesus’s
beatitudes are like eight confident swipes with a sponge full of paint stripper:
agony.  However, as we see the image
emerge, we develop a hunger for more: more of the Real.  He says ‘whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will
find it,’ (Matt 16:25) and it is in line with this consistent message of
Jesus’s teaching that The Beatitudes must be read.