Thoughts and Amusings

My Christianity Today Mag arrived from the mighty US of A on Saturday. and features a page of 'Reflections' this months 'Reflections' are on 'Poor in Spirit' (think Matthew 5:3)

Here are just two:

The Kingdom of God can only be recieved by empty hands. Jesus warns against a) worldly self -suffciency: you trust yourself and your own resources and don't need God b) religious self -suffiency: you trust your religious attitude and moral life and don't need Jesus

It is a theological mistake to seek suffering for its own sake. Nor does this beatitude mean that to live a pious life is to embrace the ultimate form of delayed gratification - suffering now in the hope that God will provide the reward once one is dead. The words of the Beatitudes are in the present tense: "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven