Shapes in the Clouds

Have you ever looked up in the sky, watched the clouds floating by, and discovered a whole world of creatures and activities within them? 

Have you ever looked up in the sky, at the stars that dot the night, and discovered a whole world of heroes and epic quests? 

Have you ever looked at the bark of a tree and seen faces looking back at you? 

The world is full of shapes and patterns and designs, and we could easily look at them as nothing more than shapes and patterns and designs, but humanity doesn't like to do that. We like to find deeper meaning and symbolism. Clouds aren't just clouds. They're ever changing animals parading through the blue expanse. Stars aren't just stars. They're dragons and hunters and bears. Cracks in bark and craters on the moon are faces of souls that are trapped within.

Mourning

Today we are looking at the second Beatitude, or Blessing, in The Sermon on the Mount. This week was also Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, and, while I didn’t intentionally plan this, these things actually go together quite well. 

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, is a day of decadence and debauchery. It is the day before the start of the Lent Season, which is the 40 days leading up to Easter, and it is meant to be a time of fasting and righteousness. It is a time when you intentionally remove something from your life and replace it with time spent with God. You are supposed to identify and remove something from your life that is or could be a distraction, or something that occupies a good deal of your time/attention. It is meant to be a sacrifice. Mardi Gras, being the last day before Lent, is a celebration of gorging yourself on everything that you will be removing from your life. It is an overindulgence of that which you have deemed needs to be removed. It is said, by some, to be a celebration of life, but it is a distorted celebration of life as true life comes from Christ “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” not from the perverted sweets of the world. 

This is where the next Beatitude comes in.