I Am a Rock Ep 4 A Beatitudes 2023
A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock I am an island
I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pains
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock I am an island
Don't talk of love
Well I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock I am an island
I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries
First recorded in 1965, (55 yrs ago) Paul Simon referred to this as his “Most neurotic song!”
Well, I don’t know if it reveals neurosis or not, but it certainly portrays a person who has taken isolation & self-sufficiency to its extreme. We can imagine there has been a failed love affair, or the loss of a dear someone to death, or a fractured friendship or a shattered dream that ripped apart the heart of the song’s central character. This individual has decided to wall up their heart & refuse all emotion, all relationship, all human entanglements in order to never again endure such pain. But in spite of the posturing & bravado, the echoes of loneliness ring strong & loud. We hear revealed a person suffering from a deep poverty of spirit, but who has chosen to pretend there is no emptiness at all.
And while, clearly, this is a song of an individual (the pronoun, “I,” is used 19, “me” & “my,” 10 times. 166 words in song, 29 of them are self-focused. 17%), I wonder if it could also be a commentary on our human condition. We are created to be in community, in relationship with those around us, & of course, with our creator. But we can so often be prone to quickly use the slightest provocation, or perceived betrayal, hurt, misunderstanding, or disappointment as bricks with which we begin to build walls around our hearts. When our walls are high enough & thick enough, we may feel less vulnerable to pain. Humans have claimed “self-sufficiency” without need for others, without need even for God, for generations upon generations. And if we are full of our self-protective, self-absorbed self-sufficiency, where is there room for others? Where is there room for God?
But no matter how we ignore the need or deny the need, the truth remains: our spirits thirst for love. The longer we deny & ignore, the more parched our spirit becomes. Studies of folks’ FB posts have shown that the more often “I,” “Me,” & “My” are used in persons’ posts, the more those individuals exhibit signs of depression.
And we become cynics. We buy into the notion that those who are merciful, who see the best in others & act w/out self-interest; those who work for peace & speak up for those on the margins whose voices aren’t heard – well, they are just bleeding-heart saps who simply don’t get how things work in this world. We say to ourselves & to each other, “Joy is an illusion. Life is hard, & then you die. In the meantime, look out for number one.”
It is into this world that God sent Jesus to begin to remove, brick by brick, the walls surrounding our hearts. And I wonder if this is the reason that in his 1st sermon, the 1st blessing Jesus asserts is poverty of spirit. Not that loneliness, vulnerability, & emptiness are a picnic! I wonder if the blessing isn’t the actual condition of empty spirit, but the recognition that our spirit is empty? Because once we are awakened to our need for God, & recognize that self-sufficiency is an illusion, there is room for God-sufficiency.
And when we finally make room for God, all things are possible! Even comfort in grief, even mercy, even justice, peace & righteousness. When we recognize that we are dependent on God for all that is good & all that sustains us, we have begun to catch a glimpse of God’s holy realm at work in the world!
Then, we can begin to understand that the blessings of which Jesus speaks aren’t REQUIREMENTS for our entry into God’s realm; they are a DESCRIPTION of the character, 1st of God’s own self, the God who is revealed to the world in the person of Jesus. AND a description of the character of those who live as God’s subjects.
One theologian calls the beatitudes “case studies of life in God’s empire, visions of the identity & way of life that result from encountering God’s present & future reign.” Jesus is describing – and promising – a community of justice, compassion, kindness, where the poor are treated fairly, the oppressed are relieved of their burdens…Jesus reveals God as a ruler who levels the playing field – He opens our eyes to a holy realm where Gods favor is not expressed in money or status, but in relationship that thrives when love overpowers fear.
We begin to discover that blessedness doesn’t depend upon our outward situations. It doesn’t depend on our ability to perform to a certain standard. Blessedness isn’t an emotional condition. It Is: a state of being. It is a state of being loved beyond our heart’s capacity to hold, & being cherished by our creator for eternity.
Ultimately, these teachings of Jesus aren’t only a portrait of God’s rule of justice, peace & mercy. They are also Promise: Promise – that by God’s grace, we aren’t defined by our life circumstances, we aren’t defined by our sin, our inabilities, we aren’t even defined by what we do right. Instead, we are defined only by God’s love for us. These words are Jesus’ promise that what the world has said are obstacles to God’s kingdom aren’t obstacles at all!; Those things which cause us to despair will not cause us to be separate from God’s love. In fact: the things we perceived as roadblocks might actually be God’s building blocks. That which makes us feel unworthy, or unfit may be precisely what God wishes to work w/in us to affirm life & work towards wholeness in ourselves and in others.
Because, remember, God’s blessings have never been poured out for us to hoard. Recall God’s words to Abraham in Genesis 12:2: I will make of you a great nation, & I will bless you & make your name great so that you will be a blessing.” Once we know that we are claimed & sustained by the love of a God who will never abandon us to pain, sorrow or emptiness, we are free to be conduits of these same blessings as we share the Good of God’s love made known in Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to transform our hearts, our relationships, our community. He came to make all things new. Beginning today! Jesus doesn’t wait for us to graduate, to get the lesson right, or turn to the right chapter. Quite the contrary, as Elizabeth Acthmeier wrote:
“Messiah is not promised when everything is peaceful & when everyone has turned to the Lord: He is promised when everything looks dark & hopeless & life seems to be at the end of its rope; in the midst of suffering & strife, anguish & fear, despair & darkness in human hearts.; In short, he comes into real human life, into the turmoils of history, into your life & mine.”
Friends, Jesus doesn’t promise a life free of trouble. There will be mourning, suffering & times of despair, confusion & doubt. Even Jesus endured such things. But the blessing remains nonetheless…Jesus w/ us; Jesus our comforter, our peace, our courage, our strength.
So, Let us rejoice & be glad that in Christ Jesus, God has met us on our level; he has come down to us. Not to keep us low, but to raise us up for abundant life in this world and the next! And that is blessing indeed! AMEN