And [Jesus] opened his mouth and taught them saying:
Matthew 5:2-8
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Purity. How do we untether the word from the white supremacist, patriarchal and othering world it is often defined by in today’s church cultures?
Burn the idea of being a precious untouched flower.
Burn the idea of being white.
Burn the idea of being a certain kind of feminine that “upholds value” aka dogwhistle sexism.
Burn the idea that it is too late, too far gone for others aka shame.
Purity. Clean. Whole. Full integrity. Is purity a fable and a lie to keep the masses down while those at the pulpit hold onto their power to tell us how to attain? Who is pure among us? Jesus? I think, maybe, only, Jesus…Jesus certainly saw God.
What was his heart like? Full of emotions. Full of purpose. His heart was for his calling on earth — to close the gap between humans and God. His heart was to bring all to a state of worthiness and wholeness so that those in that experience know their forever place in the kingdom of God.
Purity in heart is a callback to the uninhibited connection to God in the garden. It requires a burning of the shame, the lie that we need to do it on our own and the distrust of a good creator. Purity in heart is how we are created — an innocence and full access to God — but the ways of this world fog up that truth. If we can believe that we are already pure in heart while simultaneously working to feel and exist pure in heart, we will become intimate with God and our purpose.
Prayer: God I pray for the courage to believe in my already purity while working towards experiencing it fully. God I pray for shames and lies to be burned away by your goodness.
How has the idea of purity made me small or judgmental?
Are you there God? 