Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit
Saturday, January 12th, 2008
I was introduced recently to “Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit”, by Macrina Wiederkehr. Marcina is a member of the Benedictine community in Fort Smith Arkansas. As someone in our meeting noted, “You could meditate on this poem for months.”
Here are just a few lines from her evocative poem:
I turned to the empty ones,
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? I asked
Is there anything good about being that poor?
The poor in spirit replied….
Being poor in spirit means
having nothing to call your own,
except your own poverty…
Being poor in spirit means
knowing that you are so small
and dependent
needy and powerless
that you live with open hands
and with an open heart
waiting to be blessed.
For only then can you be blessed
if you know
that you need blessing.
This speaks so clearly of what we can learn from persons on the margins of society. I have met many who know the truth expressed in this poem. Do we truly know that we too need a blessing? Thank you Macrina for your beautiful poetry.
