Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit.....

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To be poor in spirit is simply to be humble. According to a Kenyan proverb, "It is humility that exalts one and favors him against his friends." God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Harithah ibn Wahb al-Khuza'i (Hadith of Bukhari, Islam) tells how he heard the Prophet say, "Have I not taught you how the inhabitants of Paradise will be all the humble and the weak, whose oaths God will accept when they swear to be faithful? Have I not taught you how the inhabitants of hell will be all the cruel beings, strong of body and arrogant?"

The one poor in spirit understands that everything he owns, everything he has accomplished, and all that he is, comes from and through the grace of God. Those who are poor in spirit are those who are humble and who acknowledge that God is the source of All.

Without merit am I; all merit is Thine. Thine, Lord, are all merits -- by what tongue have I power to praise Thee? (Sikhism, Adi Granth)

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain"; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that." As it is you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (Christianity, James 4: 13-16)

The poor in spirit are not attached to their possessions but hold onto them lightly, realizing that the true owner of everything is God. The poor in spirit are willing to part with their possessions and to give to those in need.

Be humble, be harmless, have no pretension, be upright, forbearing, serve your teacher in true obedience, keeping the mind and body in cleanness, tranquil, steadfast, master of ego, standing apart from the things of the senses, free from self; aware of the weakness in mortal nature. (Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita 13.7-8)

It is difficult for those who seem most favored - those who have a lot of possessions or who are famous or gifted in some way - to possess this poverty of spirit; it is quite easy for them to become proud. The Bible says that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Difficult, yes, but not impossible. What is needed is the ability to hold on loosely, to realize that all you have is a gift from God, and to be ready to give all if it is required of you.

The truly poor in spirit are not prideful or boastful of their gifts, whether intelligence, beauty, wealth, high position. possessions or their accomplishments, realizing that God gives to each according to his delight.

The gift of our very lives are in the hands of God, who could take this gift back at any minute.

The Lamenter cries, for he is humbling himself, remembering his nothingness in the presence of the Great Spirit. (Native American Religions. Black Elk, Sioux Tradition)

Be of an exceedingly humble spirit, for the end of man is the worm. (Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.4)

An attitude of genuine humility and a willingness to deny oneself are the first step on the path to the kingdom of heaven, and those who possess these qualities God calls blessed.

Peace, Not War....

God hath made of one blood all nations of men. Acts 17:26

Lately I've been scared. I read the headlines with my morning cup of coffee and it seems that things in the world are just getting worse and worse. This past week an 88 year old white supremicist murdered a security guard at a Holocaust Museum because he hated Jews. An abortion doctor was gunned down at his own church during a service because a mentally ill man had gotten revved up by listening to far right conservative Christians spout hate, and North Korea is threatening war with any country who stops its ships. And not just any war. Nuclear war. There is so much anger and hatred in the world and lately there is a sense of things escalating and reaching the point of meltdown and confrontation.

All creatures are the family of God; and he is the most beloved of God who does most good to His family. Islam, Hadith

Nothing good has ever come of war. If we look back over our history, many wars have been fought, the majority of which were religious wars. Differences of opinion and belief. The need for one group to prove that their way is right and to destroy all heretics who disagree.

Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother? Judaism, Malachi 2:10


The last world war killed 72 million people in a period of about 10 years. The war in Iraq has so far killed about 85,000 people. Vietnam killed around 2 million people and achieved absolutely nothing, as do most wars. This can't possibly be our Creator's will, can it? To slaughter one another in cold blood? To never learn from our mistakes?

God is the Father, Earth the Mother. With all things and in all things, we are relatives. Sioux, Native American, Zona

If one studies the scriptures of many of the religions, it is quite clear that there is a call for peace, for understanding, for love of one's neighbor. We need to "get" this. And quickly. The next world war could do more than kill millions, it could destroy the entire planet.

One Nation, Many Religions

"Truth has many aspects. Infinite truth has infinite expressions. Though the sages speak in divers ways, they express one and the same Truth. Ignorant is he who says, "What I say and know is true; others are wrong." It is because of this attitude of the ignorant that there have been doubts and misunderstandings about God. This attitude it is that causes dispute among men. But all doubts vanish when one gains self-control and attains tranquility by realizing the heart of Truth. Thereupon dispute, too, is at an end." (Hinduism, Srimad Bhagavatam 11.15)

Born in the early 1930s, my parents practiced the same protestant religion that their parents before them had practiced for their whole lives. They didn't give much thought as to why they practiced the religion they practiced, and had someone asked them if they'd had ever read, for example, The Lotus Sutra (Buddhism) or the Upanishads (Hinduism), they would have scratched their heads. They simply were not exposed to the variety and wealth of religious experience available in America to those born since my generation, a mere 30 years later.

We're now living in an ecumenical age. According to the book, World Scripture, by the International Religious Foundation, the progress in transportation and communication that has brought all the peoples of the world into one global village has also brought the religions of the world into close contact. Just half a century ago, Christians living in North America might never have met a Muslim or a Buddhist throughout their whole lives; in ignorance they could believe that such people were heathen and in dire need of salvation. Muslims in Syria, or Buddhists in Thailand, could as easily hold a similar view of the foreign religions that occasionally intruded upon their lands. But today Western cities teem with immigrants from Asia and Africa bearing their native faiths, and our commercial and political affairs connect us with all nations.


"Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers, the wise man accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions." (Hinduism, Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3)

Many people, such as myself, are excited to be able to learn about different religions and practices. I have been privileged to attend a variety of Christian churches, both Protestant and Catholic. I've experienced God's presence in these services, especially during worship. I've also experienced God in nature, and in the many Wiccan and Native American rituals I've taken part in over the years. I've met God in both meditation and prayer, and gained God's guidance through many sources, such as The Dhammapada, The Bhagavad Gita, and The Bible. God is everywhere and I believe God inhabits the praises of all his people's, not just those of a particular religion.

Those who praise their own doctrines and disparage the doctrines of others do not solve any problem. (Jainism, Sutrakritanga 1.1.50)

Although many believers are open to various religions, unfortunately some are still very close-minded, if not hostile, to those with differing religions, and believe that their religion is the "one right true only way". This is unfortunate and I believe stems mostly from lack of knowledge and fear of the unknown. We fear what we do not understand. Only when we can learn to respect one another's religious beliefs, or lack of religious belief, can we truly be one nation, united.