Blessed Are the WHO???

There seems to be a lot of speculation these days about who and what God will bless. Does God bless those with money, without money, those who are gay, straight, bi, trans, hefty, skinny..............

Actually, this post won't be about that- at least, the meat of this won't be about that. Everything I just listed above is a label of some sort. I am concerned that we are so busy labeling ourselves that we forget to take the time to love ourselves.

One concern I've had over the last few years is our cultural obsession with dieting. We all must eat the right foods in order to be the right weight and lose 20 pounds tomorrow in order to fit into that sexy new dress by Christmas time in order to impress our family and friends who thought we would always be fat. Don't get me wrong: being healthy and sexy are great goals- especially since I see FAR too many people wearing things unappealing to my eyes on an everyday basis walking around San Bernardino. (Sometimes, it's bad enough for a mental F-bomb). But, what happened to just being happy with our body types as they are? There is nothing wrong with having a slightly larger waist or smaller boobs. Unless you need to lose weight for health reasons, would you at least consider being happy in your current state before buying into the hype?

Also, can we please get to the place where sexual orientation is not such a huge deal anymore? Whoever you prefer to sleep with, please be at peace with God and yourself. No one else matters in the long run. Really.

Back to how I started this post...
I really believe this is the heart of the Beatitudes Jesus lists in the Sermon on the Mount. It is not so much about the list, but about what's not on the list. You see, Jesus never said any of the following:

Happy are those who...
- have sexy bodies
- can lose weight fast
- have the most fashionable clothes
- declare their sexual orientation to the world
- have natural, relaxed, curly, straight....hair
- have a mansion and five cars (ahem, TBN preachers)
- are reading the latest self-help books
- are listening to the right preachers on television

In fact, being the revolutionary Jesus is, our world is turned upside down when we hear who is really happy and in direct line of God's blessing.

Don't believe me? Read Matthew 5 for yourself.