Sitting with the Sacred

Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalm 1:1-4,6
Luke 6: 17, 20-26

Me: Taken at face value, the passages seem to suggest I should be wary of trusting anyone or of taking advice, that it’s bad to be happy, to laugh, and to have enough to eat.

God: But you know that’s not the message. The message is a warning not to make happiness, humor, food, or the opinions of others into addictions. Pain medicine, in the literal sense, or in the other forms it can take, is not bad in and of itself — as long as it isn’t dangerous and is used judiciously. Use it sometimes so you can keep going, so pain doesn’t keep us from working together, so pain doesn’t feel stronger than hope and trust. Just be careful that getting the effects it offers doesn’t become the focus of your life. Don’t settle for being numb more often than not. To be alive is to be open to my reality, which encompasses joy, pain, uncertainty and everything else. My reality, which is reality itself, looks at everything with trust, faith, and love. It is spiritual expansion. My reality is the opposite of being closed and stagnant.

Me. My brain makes me feel closed and stagnant, stuck in indecision and anxiety. I wish my trust in you felt greater than that stuck feeling.

God: I know. Just know that I’m with you wherever you are. That’s a start, and if you know that, you’re not closed. The door of your soul is ajar, at least. As long as it isn’t closed so that you lock yourself away from the rest of creation, you’re not lost. Just let me be with you. (Rohr 80). Look with me at that reflection on the Beatitudes you wrote in your journal a few months ago.

Me: Okay, Here goes.

God: Breathe in and out, in and out…

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Blessed are they who are not blind to the injustice and suffering in the world.

Blessed are those who are aware of their need for God and for others, who are not under the illusion that they are self-sufficient.

Blessed are they who seek to right wrongs, even if they bungle the process or aren’t always successful.

Blessed are they who delay gratification so they may be open to a greater good.

Blessed are they who set something good aside to make room for something even better, something priceless, something eternal.

Blessed are they who are able to give as well as to receive.

Blessed are they who give more than they are asked without expecting to receive anything back.

Blessed are they who treat others as they would like to be treated.

Blessed are they who try to surrender to God, and to let God work through them.

Blessed are they who live generously, and in doing so, give and receive God’s love.

Work consulted

Rohr, Richard. Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality. Franciscan Media, 2022.