Jul 09, 2017

 

Follower of Jesus (26)

Blessed are those who hunger

And thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be satisfied. (2)

    Matt. 5:6

 

What did Jesus mean when he uttered this phrase? Note the words “hunger and thirst” that proceed the term “righteousness”. These qualifiers change the complexity of the meaning: it is a blessing on action, or those who recognize the immorality of the world on one another, who act as the “face of God”, or the “light on the mountain top” to those around them. To be one who “hungers and thirsts” is to be one driven by the Spirit to bring justice and hope and love to all the hopeless and discouraged – like the refugees of the world; like those caught in the seemingly endless cycle of poverty and despair. President Carter is one such a person; his love for the poor and discouraged are a trademark that has gained him world-wide respect.

Jesus’ view on the righteous was very different from the modern view of a righteous person. Even in the days of Jesus, a person who followed the letter of the law was considered (and considered themselves) righteous, but with the terms expressed by Jesus that only those who hunger and thirst for righteousness do we begin to see the truly righteous as those live the beatitudes to the fullest: not one who pats themselves on the back (such as those who see themselves as righteous) but who see God in all that is around them, and the voice and face of God in all people, especially those who are suffering and alone.

The beatitudes are to be taken as a whole, where a person fulfills them all but concentrates on one or another as part of their personal role in creation. Thus a person who is righteous is also meek and humble. A righteous person is pure of heart, and so forth.

But above all, a righteous person is love personified, a living example of the love of God in their world. They are the ones who reach out to those in need; a social worker is one profession that can fit the role of the righteous one, who hunger and thirst for justice. It is the righteous person who joins the Doctors without Borders, who become the missionaries of the world whose first drive is improving the living conditions of those under their care.

But how will these ones become satisfied? As they work in their chosen field, they become more and more aware of the pain and injustices of the world. Certainly for many, these overwhelming injustices pull then away from their initial awareness of the need, and can cause the person to become bitter, discouraged, and burnt out. They then stay in their profession as a disillusioned bitter person who fail miserably to bring the love and joy of God with them, or else they leave and remember both fondly and with bitterness that time when they were blinded by the goals but failed to see the cause of the problem.

But for those who turn to God as the first cause and let themselves dwell in the everlasting Joy and Love of God, the tasks become tasks of joy as they see one person at a time reach a new level of life that they had not imagined. Mother Theresa, in her talk at the reception of the Nobel Peace prize, talked of saving one little girl from starvation, and the pain that little girl had in accepting the food, not believing she would get more food that day and the next day.

The big problem is simplified: help this person, and then go on to the next, one person at a time.

It is easy and very common for those who burn with the sense of injustice (hunger and thirst) become burn out and often discouraged. This happened to my brother, who became a social worker in northern Ohio. He dealt with young people coming out of prison and deep poverty, and ended up in the hospital several times, a sign of being burn out (but Tom was never discouraged). Then God, in the form of his spiritual director, led him to meet a widow with three teenage children. They fell in love (Tom was 36, Mary several years older) and married, and Mary was able to bamboozle Tom into taking better care of himself, and did not end up in a hospital for that reason again. (My brother Tom truly is one who has hungered and thirsted for righteousness all his adult life, and has been crucified and spat upon, but still believes strongly, with God at his side.)

Meditation

Divine Wisdom, I place my heart and soul in your care. I ask that You guide and help me to open my heart to let You flow through me to be a candle in a dark place. By myself I would drown in the overwhelming pain of the world, but allow me to open my eyes to see what is before me at each moment, and know and understand that this moment is all I have to be concerned about right now. I bow in gratitude for the shining Love that is always before me. Keep my eyes always open to bring Your Love and Peace to any that need it at this moment, just this moment.