Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Blessed vs Blessed

Luke 6: 20-23

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.




Yesterday my mind stayed on the verses in Matthew called the Beatitudes. As I’ve mentioned before, most of the time I like to read my King James version of the Bible mainly because that is what I began with and memorized verses in GA’s (Girls Auxiliary). I also like my NIV study Bible and my Life Application Bible. When I read the Beatitudes, I always say Bless-ed be… I’m not sure why other than what I have heard all my life.

Last year in Sunday School we began studies in Matthew and ran into the question as to if the word blessed in Matthew 5 was pronounced blessed or bless-ed. I suppose it doesn’t really doesn’t matter much except when you dig deeper and begin to think how the word gets translated and how it’s used in our English language today and then how it relates to us personally. I remembered that I made notes and went to find them in my journal. It seems the word “bless-ed” means something like a congratulation or approval by God. Translations from Greek word makarios found in both the Matthew 5 and Luke 6 writings of the Beatitudes do not carry the secular sense of happy or fortunate. At the same time, if you find yourself bless-ed you surely would be blessed, wouldn’t you?

When a person says “I am blessed” that usually means that God did something for them, that they are happy or fortunate. When a person says “I am bless-ed” that usually relates to the nature, constitution or condition of that person. It’s the difference between using the word as an adjective, noun or past tense verb. This confusion, which I fully admit I still have, is all the more proof that translators have a HUGE job.

As I thought more about being bless-ed or being blessed, I decided I wanted both. I want God to approve of me and I want to reap the rewards of being approved. I want to be bless-ed and I want to be blessed. I’ll think on this some more, I’m sure.



Today's photo is of a favorite tea cup of mine. I got it a couple of years ago as a present to myself while shopping in the gift shop of Kanapaha Gardens in Florida. When I want to feel really prissy with my tea making I pull out this cup. As you can see, it has it's own strainer and a lid to keep the tea warm until it's brewed just the way you want it. I've looked for others like it but haven't seen any. I'd like to have at least another one so I could share my little secret ritual with a friend. In the meantime, I guess Cocoa Puff won't feel too left out. I don't think she likes tea that much.

Happy earth day. :)

3 comments:

Joni said...

interesting twist to think about this morning...blessed or bless-ed. In my mind they are different only in how they are applied...for example, I feel blessed-the Lord has bestowed upon me things, people, occurances that enrich my life...people are blessed.
Whereas all things pertaining to the Lord himself are bless-ed-they contain influences of divine proportions...For example, bless-ed be His name, bless-ed be the little children, bless-ed be anything He has touched.
Like you, I want to feel the result of both and through His loving grace, I'm sure we do, it's just if we can get our minds around it...I might have to have a second cup of coffee to fully grasp the difference between the literary and sacred-ness of the term, but it does give us a peek at how difficult a translator's job can be...thank goodness our hearts need no translation.
I love your little tea cup. I have seen these and I do think you need another one, maybe three more.

I hope today has a quiet moment in it where you can just sit, enjoy your tea, and know you are loved.
what tea is your favorite?
hugs,
Joni

kimberly said...

i spent some time yesterday looking at the meaning of this word...and today joni expresses my thoughts even better than i could. :)

i have several of these tea cups....gifted to me from jamie....they are really good for keeping that perfect cup of tea warm!

have a wonderful day, phyllis,
hugs,
kimberly

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love that teacup. I want want, too!! I have loose apricot and peach tea and use the little ball. this would be so much more convenient. If you ever find a place that has them, make sure you write it down and pass the info along. Is there a marking on the bottom of the cup?

Happy (bless-ed) are those who find a friend who shares heart and soul and kindred spirit. (and teacup pointers) selahV

Word of the day.

.:.