1 Kings 17:1-6 / Matthew 5:1-12
In the Bible, a blessing from God means a gift of life and love from God.
A life lived with love means living life with vigour and strength and joy, and it lets a person be at peace with God, with others and with oneself.
In the gospel, we heard about what is often called the beatitudes.
Beatitudes is not about attitudes.
Beatitudes means blessings from God.
So what Jesus is saying is that God is blessing those who are poor in spirit, those who are gentle, those who are merciful, those who work for peace.
Yet we live in a world where it seems that might is right, where money calls the shots and where authority is used to dictate.
But Jesus promises God's blessings on those who follow His truth and His way.
For example, being gentle and compassionate might be seen as soft and weak especially when we give way to others.
But there will come a time when we ourselves will be in need of some gentleness and understanding from others.
God's blessings don't come disguised.
They come as realized, and almost as soon as the next moment.
Blessed are we when we take time to count them.