Blessed are the Poor
May 20, 2009Brennan Manning records the following quote in his book “The Furious Longing of God”:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who lack a spirit of cleverness.
Woe to the rich, and woe to the doubly rich in spirit!
Although nothing is impossible with God, it is difficult for the Spirit to move their fat hearts.
The poor are willing and easy to direct.
Like little puppies they do not take their eyes from their master’s hand to see if perhaps he may throw them a little morsel from his plate.
So carefully do the poor follow my promptings that they listen to the wind (which blows where it pleases), even when it changes.
From the sky they can read the weather and interpret the signs of the times.
My grace is unpretentious, but the poor are satisfied with little gifts.
–Hans Urs Von Balthasar
A man with a home once told a man without a home that he feels sorry for the homeless man.And the homeless man said,”No friend,i feel sorry for you!”And the man with a home asked,”Why?”And the homeless man says,”Because you have the stresses of life,I dont.”
Here a free link to read all of Matthew chapter 5.
http://j1w.com/tiny/175
Are the ‘poor in spirit’ being confused with the ‘poor in financial means’? The two are completely different. Sometimes related, sometimes not. I believe in both cases, ‘poor’ is also a relative term. At times I feel rich enough in spirit to lead my children, but poor in spirit when it comes to leading adults. – a guess a parallel with money would be I feel poor compared to Bill Gates, but rich compared to the average income household in Haiti.
Darren I think you’re right. I don’t necessarily agree with Balthasar’s interpretation of the Beatitude–but I still think it interesting–and thought provoking. Thought it might create some discussion.