Beatitudes for Nonviolent Living

Peter Ediger

Fortunate are we when we know the poverty of our spirit

Then we glimpse God.

Fortunate are we when we mourn the brokenness in ourselves and in our world

Then we find comfort.

Fortunate are we when we are vulnerably gentle

Then the earth is our inheritance.

Fortunate are we when we hunger and thirst for justice

Then we are satisfied.

Fortunate are we when we show mercy

Then mercy will be shown to us.

Fortunate are we when we are being authentic

Then we see the God who is real.

Fortunate are we when we are making peace

Then we are being God’s family.

Fortunate are we when we are being ridiculed and hurt

for speaking and doing the truth

Then we are walking in the footsteps of the prophets.

When such is our being, then we are salt to preserve the earth,

Then we are being light for a world groping to find its way.