{"id":20341,"date":"2021-07-21T09:29:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T13:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=20341"},"modified":"2021-07-21T10:13:33","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T14:13:33","slug":"go-ahead-do-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=20341","title":{"rendered":"Go Ahead, Do Something"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bubmt0bSc4U\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>My fellow\nAlbuquerque resident Megan McKenna is an author, storyteller, and theologian\nwho challenges us to imitate Jesus. She writes of the importance of translation\nwhen it comes to understanding the meaning of Jesus\u2019 words: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The blessings and woes have\nso much depth and latitude, so many layers of meaning that are unveiled\nthroughout the gospel of Luke, especially in the parables. Even the meaning of\nthe word beatitude is rich and complex when seen from different perspectives. .\n. . [In Elias Chacour\u2019s book <em>We Belong to the Land<\/em>] there is a marvelous\ndescription of a beatitude that enhances our understanding of what Jesus means\nwhen he says \u201cblessed are you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing Aramaic, the language of Jesus, has greatly enriched my understanding of Jesus\u2019 teaching. Because the Bible as we know it is a translation of a translation, we sometimes get a wrong impression. For example, <strong>we are accustomed to hearing the Beatitudes expressed passively:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blessed are those who hunger\nand thirst for justice, for they shall be&nbsp;satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blessed are the merciful,\nfor they shall obtain mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blessed are the pure in\nheart, for they shall see God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blessed are the peacemakers,\nfor they shall be called children of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBlessed\u201d is\nthe translation of the word <em>makarioi<\/em>, used in the Greek New Testament. However,\nwhen I look further back to Jesus\u2019 Aramaic, I find that the original word was <em>ashray,<\/em>\nfrom the verb <em>yashar.\nAshray <\/em>does not have this passive quality to it at all. Instead, it\nmeans \u201cto set yourself on the right way for the right goal; to turn around,\nrepent.\u201d. . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How could I go to a\npersecuted young man in a Palestinian refugee camp, for instance, and say,\n\u201cBlessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,\u201d or \u201cBlessed are\nthose who are persecuted for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of\nheaven\u201d? That man would revile me, saying neither I nor my God understood his\nplight and he would be right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I understand Jesus\u2019\nwords in Aramaic, I translate like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you who are hungry and thirsty\u00a0for justice, for you shall be satisfied.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you peacemakers, for you shall\u00a0be\u00a0called children of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To me this reflects Jesus\u2019\nwords and teachings much more accurately. I can hear him saying: \u201cGet your\nhands dirty to build a human society for human beings; otherwise, others will\ntorture and murder the poor, the voiceless, and the powerless.\u201d Christianity is\nnot passive but active, energetic, alive, going beyond despair. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGet\nup, go ahead, do something, move,\u201d Jesus said to his disciples. [1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Megan McKenna concludes:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The beatitudes mean deeper mercy for those who experience more divisive misery, deeper blessings for those whose hope is dimmest. They give an ultimate authority to certain people and their plight in the world. <\/strong>They signify not just a religious attitude, but a social attitude toward realities that should not exist among humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Sara Young<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>REST IN MY PRESENCE WHEN you need refreshment.\nResting is not necessarily idleness, as people often perceive it. When you\nrelax in My company, you are demonstrating trust in Me. Trust is a rich word,\nladen with meaning and direction for your life. I want you to lean on, trust,\nand be confident in Me. When you lean on Me for support, I delight in your\ntrusting confidence. Many people turn away from Me when they are exhausted.\nThey associate Me with duty and diligence, so they try to hide from My Presence\nwhen they need a break from work. How this saddens Me! As I spoke through My\nprophet Isaiah: In returning to Me and resting in Me you shall be saved; in\nquietness and trust shall be your strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PSALM 91:1; He that dwelleth in the secret\nplace of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PROVERBS 3:5 AMP; Trust in and rely\nconfidently on the LORD with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight\nor understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ISAIAH 30:15 AMP; This is what the Sovereign\nLORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: &#8220;In repentance and rest is your\nsalvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Young,\nSarah. Jesus Calling Morning and Evening Devotional (Jesus Calling\u00ae) (p. 418).\nThomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My fellow Albuquerque resident Megan McKenna is an author, storyteller, and theologian who challenges us to imitate Jesus. She writes of the importance of translation when it comes to understanding the meaning of Jesus\u2019 words: The blessings and woes have so much depth and latitude, so many layers of meaning that are unveiled throughout the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20341"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20341"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20347,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20341\/revisions\/20347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}