Two weeks ago I attended a two-day seminar for Christian women at a nearby seminary, called Blessed to be a blessing!  A Compass for Christian Disipleship.  Our speaker was Martha E. Stortz, author of "A World According to God."  We had 8 sessions in 2 days – all focused on the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5.  My mind has been so filled with thoughts that I have not been able to begin to put it all into words.  So this is just a brief overview from my notes:

The first words Jesus said, after "Follow Me" were "Blessed are ..".  These words are His call and His promise to us.   

The Beatitudes may be seen as a basic rhythm of discipleship for our daily lives.  The first 4 'blesseds' speak to victims, those who are distressed, depressed, mourning, humble, hungering and thirsting for what they need, both for food and water and to know the righteousness of Jesus.  The next ones speak to the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers (the forgiving), those who speak for and stand up for Jesus; those who are called to be helpers and ministers of Christ's Kingdom here and now. 

Looking closer, we see that Jesus Himself is both the victim and the helper, our Savior.  He is not promising that we will not be afraid or hurting, but that He is both helper and victim right here with us. 

God calls me by blessing me.  I call God by blessing others.  We call others into the family of God by blessing them.  Jesus is the image of God fulfilling 'US' being the image of God, bringing the Kingdom of Heaven here and now.  We pray in the Lord's Prayer "Thy Kingdom come" - and it does come, right now, as we live in His grace and discipleship, ministering mercy, forgiveness, and help to those in need.

I will close with a quote from one of Kelly Fryer's books (from our reading list at the seminar):

The Five Guiding Principles of Christian Faith

1.      Jesus is Lord

2.      Everyone is welcome

3.      Love changes people

4.      Everybody has something to offer

5.      The world needs what we have

"A new command I give you, that you love each other.

As I have loved you, love one another.

This is how all will know that you are My followers,

by the love you have for one another."

- Jesus of Nazareth

"I have three things I'd like to say today.

First, while you were sleeping last night,

30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition.

Second, most of you don't give a shit.

What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact

 that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."

- Tony Campolo

"Of all bad (people) religious bad (people) are the worst."

-          C.S. Lewis

"If tyranny and oppression come to this land,

it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."

- James Madison

"To believe in something, and not live it, is dishonest."

- Mahatma Ghandi

"Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."

- Mother Theresa

"If I speak the languages of men and angels,

but have not love, I am but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

and if I have so much faith so as to even remove mountains,

but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,

but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, trusts all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. ...

So now faith, hope, and love remain, these three;

but the greatest of these is love."

- St. Paul of Tarsus

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless,

whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism

or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

- Mahatma Ghandi

"God didn't send His Son into the world to bring condemnation to the world,

but that through Him it might be rescued."

- Jesus of Nazareth

"I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems.

And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go.

I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today.

I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love,

I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate.

I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South.

I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen

and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself,

because every time I see it,

I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities

and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear.

I have decided to love.

If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love.

And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it,

because John was right, God is love.

He who hates does not know God,

but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality."

- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"When you wonder about the mystery of yourself,

look to Christ, who gives you the meaning of life.

When you wonder what it means to be a mature person,

look to Christ, who is the fullness of humanity.

And when you wonder about your role in the future of the world

look to Christ."

-Pope John Paul II

"Hatred can only be conquered by love."

- Pope John Paul II

"Suppose everybody in the world loves unconditionally,

loving others as one's self.

Will there yet be any unfilial person?

When everyone regards his father, elder brother, and emperor as himself,

where could he direct any unfilial feeling?

Will there still be any unaffectionate person?

When everyone regards his younger brother, son, and servant as himself,

where can he direct any disaffection? ...

Will there be any thieves and robbers?

When everyone regards other families as his own family, who will steal?

When every one regards other persons as his own person, who will rob?"

- Mo Tzu

This song is one of my favorite newer Christian songs; the words are written as if Jesus is speaking to me. 

You may listen to a clip of it here:  http://www.a-cappella.com/product/4744/41 

I Was There To Hear Your Borning Cry

By John Ylvisaker

"I was there to hear your borning cry,

I'll be there when you are old.

I rejoiced the day you were baptized,

to see your life unfold.

I was there when you were but a child,

with a faith to suit you well;

In a blaze of light you wandered off

to find where demons dwell."

"When you heard the wonder of the Word

I was there to cheer you on;

You were raised to praise the living Lord,

to whom you now belong.

If you find someone to share your time

and you join your hearts as one,

I'll be there to make your verses rhyme

from dusk 'till rising sun."


In the middle ages of your life,

not too old, no longer young,

I'll be there to guide you through the night,

complete what I've begun.

When the evening gently closes in,

and you shut your weary eyes,

I'll be there as I have always been

with just one more surprise."

Chorus:  "I was there to hear your borning cry,

I'll be there when you are old.

I rejoiced the day you were baptized,

to see your life unfold."

 I have been working on a quilt for the past year.  I recently finished it!  The pattern is called Attic Windows.  The pieces are from a 'rag bag' of scraps and odds and ends that I got from my Grandmother's house when she died in 1963, and I have added other bits and pieces over the years since, both from my old sewing projects and from things in my mother's trunk.  I finally dumped them out, sorted, washed and ironed them, and cut them into appropriate pieces.  Then each piece was framed by the solid greens.  I added a picture of my Great-Grandmother, my Grandmother, my Mother, myself and my 3 daughters, showing from whom the fabrics came.  The final hand stitching was done together with my eldest daughter.  It fits a queen-size bed. Each piece has a family story, which I am in the process of writing.