Mourning, and thankful..

Mourning, and thankful.. Matthew 5.4

“What is a beatitude?” a simple enough question, with a more complex answer I do believe. beatitude |bēˈatiˌt(y)o͞od| noun

supreme blessedness. • (the Beatitudes) the blessings listed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–11).

"Beatitude is a possession of all things held to be good, from which nothing is absent that a good desire may want.

Perhaps the meaning of beatitude may become clearer to us if it is compared with its opposite.

Now the opposite of beatitude is misery. Misery means being afflicted unwillingly with painful sufferings."1 Well said.

Yesterday was a strange day, and I do not believe it was any accident, given a host of factors. I had a conference call prayer meeting with my corporate brothers, and then continued studying about the meaning of the second beatitude: Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.2

It is not an easy beatitude to interpret, but I think the day unfolded in such a way that it serves as the perfect illustration to understand what Jesus was saying. While I was studying, I noticed that Missy, my little ‘expectant’ dog was acting as though her time to deliver might be close—refusing food, a growl, a walk in a circle, another growl, an inability to get comfortable, etc. I watched with one eye as I continued studying, reading various commentaries, seeking to understand Jesus’ intent.

With ease, it seemed Missy birthed her first little bundle, and then another … we had been told there were likely three puppies, perhaps four. It is an unbelievably miraculous occurrence as the mama dog does everything needed to tend to her new offspring, and I do mean everything. As Missy tended to those two, soon another was born, and I thought we were finished.

I checked in with my niece about the condition of my sister, Phyllis, who has been in rapid decline following the break of her femur. While I had been bedside for many hours even in the last four days, when I kissed her ‘good bye’ yesterday, I knew that the next time I would see her would surely be in Heaven. ‘Three minutes ago, she left us,’ the text reply came. Wait, what?! While I had expected it, I was cut to the quick that my sister had died.

Reliving all of the moments I have recently spent with my sister, all of a sudden, I noticed Missy acting funny, and within moments, a fourth puppy was born. I was confident that was it, and turned my attention to my computer for a few minutes, only to turn around and discover she had delivered her fifth little guy. Mind you, she only weighs 12 pounds herself, so this was quite something!

Mourning … Missy … my sister … connection?

My dear complicated sister, whose body was broken in so many places, went home to be with Jesus. Of that, I am confident. But she did not leave without some wonderful things taking place. In the last six weeks, I have spent many hours with her two daughters, and had the opportunity to restore relationship where it had been mostly broken. I got to hold my sister, tend her intimate needs, kiss her, read Scripture to her, pray and play hymns for her, and tell her I love her; more than that, she told me over and over that she loved me. I do not remember her telling me she loved me ever before. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Yes, I believe so. And the Lord is ever present to the dying . . . as the psalmist said, ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.’3

As for my little canine mommy, last June Missy had delivered a single puppy who only lived about 25 hours; we were all heartbroken when little Dempsey died. [www.pastorwoman.com - “When Nature Hurts” – 2 Timothy 4.6] But now, she delivered five puppies?! Wow, my twelve-pound-little mama outdid herself! Or was it a God thing? Hmmm. . .

As for me, I love and serve a God who cares – a God whose heart is good, a God who ultimately makes all things right. A God who is right there with us – no matter what assails us. And in the between, I remember what Job said, ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away . . . blessed be the name of the Lord.’4 The Lord your God is with you – he is mighty to save!5

IT IS NOT ENOUGH for us … within the arena of the world's pain merely to know of a God who sympathizes. It is not even enough to know of a God who heals. We need to know of and be connected with a God who experiences with us, for us, each grief, each wound. We need to be bonded with a God who has had nails in the hands and a spear in the heart!5

Oh yes indeed— I hear Jesus saying, 'Blessed are those children of mine who mourn, for I will comfort them.'

Christine

PastorWoman.com

1 - St. Gregory of Nyssa, a mystic who lived in Cappadocia in Asia Minor around 380 AD.

2 – Matthew 5.4

3 – Psalm 34.18

4 - Job 1.21

5 – Zephaniah 3.17

6 - Flora Slosson Wuellner, Weavings