Halloween is this Saturday and every year on Halloween I’m reminded of a twitter post I saw on a Halloween many years ago.  It read:

“for kids whose stomachs hurt because they ate too much candy, and for those whose bellies hurt because they have no food at all, we pray.”

I’m not always quite sure what to do when I get a cold splash of reality like this.  We know that our world exists in the tension of these type of circumstances.  We know that some of us have so much that we don’t know how to enjoy it all without getting a stomach ache, while others lack the basic needs for survival but we don’t often know what to do with these situations.  How are we to live in a world where there is so much excess and yet so much need?

I’ll be honest, I don’t have a good answer to all these questions.  I’m sure that next Halloween will come and go and child will gorge themselves on candy while others go to bed hungry.  But in a world where this stark contrast is possible I find the following words of Jesus not only helpful, but convicting:

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:1-12

Christ calls some of the most unlikely groups of people blessed not because He thinks their hunger or pain is a blessing but because, by His love he has declared them blessed.  And in so doing, Christ challenges us to understand blessings not in terms of what we have or don’t have, but to understand blessing in terms of Christ’s love for us.  A love that is powerful enough to overcome the dichotomies within our world.

In our world of stark contrasts, we are called to see the excess and the needs with Christ’s eyes and to bring that love of Christ to the many places of hardship in our world.

May we learn to see the world with Christ’s eyes. Amen.