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 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. – Matthew 5:4

There is a lot to mourn in the world: mass shooting, followed by mass shooting, war and violence, and I haven’t even finished scrolling to the bottom of the newsfeed. Sometimes it’s hard to feel comforted.  While technology has increased our global connectedness and allows us to keep in touch with friends around the world, it also shares with us the grief of a collective global community. 

 However, Jesus doesn’t just tell us that those who mourn will be comforted, but also that they are blessed in their mourning.  He goes on to describe a long list of blessed people who are probably mourning the tragedy around us: those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers.  In my own mourning I am comforted by the presence of these people, because as we all mourn together, I know that the people who will help make this world a better place are the peacemakers and those with a deep desire for righteousness and justice. Because just as we share our grief we also share in the possibility of doing something about it; of making the world just a tiny bit better. 

 Jesus has a long list of blessed people because it takes all of us. We must care for those who are poor in spirit and meek, but also those people, they are already blessed, and together we seek to build the blessings that Jesus names, a world with mercy, where the meek inherit the earth, where those who crave righteousness are filled. Life is not easy, even for those that Jesus names as blessed and yet, even as I mourn for a world full of hurt and sadness, I am comforted and hopeful for a world that is also full of peacemakers, the merciful, and seekers of justice. Together we offer one another a glimmer of hope.  We are blessed to have community; even when it’s hard. I thank the Lord for the blessed, and hope that even in their grief and hunger, they feel this shared sense of hope too.