March 18, 2004	Read Matthew 5: 4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
COMFORT REACHES THROUGH TEARS One might “spiritualize” this Beatitude, interpreting it to mean that when we mourn over our sins, God is ready to forgive and embrace us with his love. And surely that would be true! That is one likely meaning to this cryptic statement. But it is not spelled out as such. The text simply says “mourn”.” And Jesus knows, and you and I know, that there are countless reasons why we mourn. We mourn because we have experienced a loss ---a beloved family member or treasured friend has died. . .we’ve lost a job. . .health has deteriorated. . .someone we love dearly has moved far away. . .a once happy marriage or a happy friendship has been destroyed by careless words or actions. . .a person we trusted has betrayed us--- The loss has left a big, throbbing empty spot in our heart. And it hurts!  Am I to call such things “blessings?” You can’t be serious!  Grieving and mourning are not conditions that most of us think of as desirable, and certainly not as “blessings.” No. Those are not blessings! Plain and simple, those are hurts. They cause us to mourn. But Jesus tells us that when those hurts do happen, and we are mourning, we are blessed. Because we can be assured that God cares. We are blessed in his love. God will give us comfort! Sometimes mystically, but more often through one of God’s people as his instrument. That happens when someone we love experiences distress and pain, and we reach out to comfort him or her. We want that person to return to a state of joy.   And how shall we define or describe “joy?” It definitely is not the same as happy. Deep joy is not necessarily expressed by laughter, or singing, or dancing (though it might be). It’s much deeper than that. It is more of a state-of-being. Living in God’s grace we know a deeply settled condition. Regardless of outward circumstances or experiences, when we mourn, we can be assured that our Heavenly Father knows all about it, and cares. Knowing him, we know that we are blessed. And through our tears we know his comfort.   Thank you loving God that when we mourn, we can know we are blessed, and will know your comfort. WIL JOHNSON

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