Preamble

 

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The following is a preamble to the Beatitudes.

We were once despisers of love —
sarcastic, cynical, depressed, anxious, manipulative pretenders. We longed for
a life we could not capture or keep, even in the midst of satisfaction, when we
had moments of satisfaction. We attempted management and control of life and
others to make ourselves full, but nothing worked.  Deceivers who were self deceived. We only
became sicker with power cravings, lust of all varieties, and false
securities.  We denied and minimized our impact on spouses, children, and
others. Finally, we secretly started spending the gift of our lives “just
by getting by”, feigning passion, interests, and love, having become numb
and even dumb to what we once dreamed life could be.

We denied how we are made; and we
attempted to reject our own hearts, which stores the truth of us — both the
desire for gratification and the tragic lengths we will go to satisfy ourselves
to avoid surrender – rendering surrender — back over to God what God made so
He can be God in our lives.

We rediscovered through pain, grace,
and mercy that we are emotional and spiritual creatures, created to do one
thing in this life — live fully. We cannot ever live fully, with our hearts
gratified, unless we are living fully in relationships: me with my inner self,
me with your heart, and me with my heart open to the heart, the ways, and the character
of God.

If we who are experiencing life with
God continue to remain humble, confessed, and truthful, God continues to raise
us up from the paupers we once were to the royal emissaries He is creating in
us. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors, and backgrounds, but this we all
have in common. We once were lost to ourselves, others, and God, bound up in
isolation of heart, but now were found and known. We once were blind to
ourselves and the true life we were missing. Now we see and wish to be open to
others who are lost to themselves and seek; who are blind and wish to see.