The Beatitudes

by Jen Norton

Size: 30 x 48 x 1.5"
Medium: Acrylic

As a child, I found the list of Beatitudes perplexing. Blessed are they who are meek, mourning and persecuted? What?? And "poor in spirit" seems an awfully lonely place to be. Jesus' ideal for supreme blessedness preached in his Sermon on the Mount stands in stark contrast to the world in which we live ... one that equates blessings and happiness with success, power and security.
Having lived over 5 decades of life, I can reflect that it was in my most troubling times that I have been the most assured of God's love. It's been at my lowest points, when I was powerless to remedy my situation with my own skills, that I turned to the only thing left: "prayer and petition". And as Paul promises in Philippians 4:6-7, I found that "peace that surpasses all understanding" at my side. -- Jen Norton