Modern Beatitudes

I have been reading the Gospel of John side by side with the Gospel of Mark.  Every day I read the next chapter.  Earlier in the year, I read a variety of translations.  Once I made my way through the Gospel of John, I decided that I like The Message best.

I've been thinking about what we gain and what we lose when we read the Bible in a more modern translation/inspiration/illumination.  The Message is probably what's most familiar to the widest variety of Bible readers, but I've found myself thinking about Nadia Bolz-Weber's translation of the Beatitudes into a text with more modern examples.

Here's what leapt out at me a few weeks ago when I came across this reading:  "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of people."

Throughout my administrator life, I've been criticized for thinking about the plight of adjuncts instead of profits.  I've been criticized for going with 2 small sections instead of combining them into one large section:  from the point of view of profits, I'd make a different choice.  In terms of better learning, I'll always be convinced that small classes are better than larger ones.

And yes, you would think that I work in education, so I shouldn't have to spend so much time arguing that student learning is our highest priority.  You would be wrong.

And the sad thing is that we don't save much money when we combine sections; we're not talking tens of thousands of dollars.  Sigh.

I've returned to this translation of the Beatitudes every several days, and I find it both a comfort and a rallying cry.  In these times of strange messages from the larger culture, it's marvelous to be reminded of a different vision of right behavior:  God's vision.