Grace

Hello peeps,

Every time I get the opportunity to participate in a Sonshine Blog, I get more and more stoked, its always heartwarming to read your posts, especially over here in Spain. Sorry to be late to the blog party.

I really liked how DJ pointed out that if we separate the beatitudes from the gospel, they become frustrating idealism's, and that we need to remember the context they were given.

At the beginning and end, I enjoyed the little narrative of someone coming to the realization that they have nothing to offer. I also like how he tied it to how we can only be rich in spirit BY being "Poor in Spirit." Coming to the conclusion that we are utterly helpless can sound like it would be a sad realization. But it is a essential acceptance of the truth about humanity, we all have nothing and when we learn to accept that, it is not something to be sad about. It is worse if we try to deny that we have nothing. Instead, when we accept it, we can then remember the joyful truth that we need the grace of Jesus, who is everything. And grace is freely given!

Special thanks to DJ for talking about the two types of "Blessed are the poor" vs. "Blessed are the poor in Spirit" in Luke. I am sure I have tripped up on that before and taken the Luke one the wrong way.

Lord, allow me to live dependently on you and not violently. Also, thank you for your grace. Amen!

Konrad