Blessed are the Poor in Spirit: Reflections on the Beatitudes and Inner Life Part I

By “Knowing Christ” student, Xuefen Mullins

“To carry Spirit-Light in World-Winter Night 

Aspires blissfully the striving of my heart,

That luminously seeds of Soul

In Grounds of Worlds be rooted,

And God’s Word in Senses Darkness

Resounds transfiguring through all Existence.”

Calendar of the Soul Week 37

After completing a hybrid year of the “Knowing Christ" course, I moved to Toronto to continue my journey on-site. During the first week of the Michaelmas Term, all the “Knowing Christ" students gathered in Toronto to lay a solid foundation for the new academic year and to study the year’s theme—the Sacraments.

The Consecration of the Human Being is the heart of the life of the Christian Community. Why is this the case? Is this reflected in the Bible? I carried these questions with me through all our courses: Inner life, Spiritual Formation, Phenomenology, Art, “June Course,”* Living with Christ, Anthroposophy and Biblical Studies.

In Biblical Studies, Rev Heirman guided us into the study of The Gospel of Matthew through reading, mapping, and parallel reading of other gospels.  Through these activities we began to sense Matthew’s unique perspective on the Word. What struck me most was that Rev Heirman led us through the geographical map of the location of the Sermon on the Mount.  How can the geographical locations of Jesus’ teachings shed light upon what He proclaims in those moments? The Word Himself teaches and leads His followers to the path of the Beatitudes which He teaches from a high mountain.  He begins here the path of apostleship which is the path to Golgotha.  It is the path of The Consecration of the Human Being. Christ not only teaches, He personally treads the path and shows us this way as our model and our everlasting medicine. At The Consecration of the Human Being, we receive the seed of the Word through the proclamation of the Gospel. We consciously offer our best thought and lift our soul to Christ.  Then this offering in love is transubstantiated so that we may unite with Christ through the Communion. As we receive the garment of His peace we may become the Salt and Light of the world. That is the Sermon on the Mount, the first teaching of Christ. He calls us to join together in Him out of our own free will. 

“And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

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

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

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

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

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

Blessed are you when others 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 so they persecuted the prophets who were before you’” Mat 5:2-11 (ESV).**

Only when we are aware that we are the poor in spirit, the mournful, the meek, the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, can we reach out the empty cup of our soul for God’s mercy, for His salvation. Yet the great reward in heaven is not meant to be held for our own souls. Christ did not sacrifice Himself on the Cross for His own sake. As the one who “came forth without sickness from the Father,”*** He did not go to the Cross for His own healing. He did it out of His selfless love. He is the overflowing cup which contains His body, His blood and His peace. We are called to participate in becoming His image, becoming an overflowing cup to outpour His light and His love.  In this way the earth can be transformed into the Divine Sun. That is the meaning of being human.

* The so-called “June Course” was the first collection of lectures given by Rudolf Steiner to those who came together with a shared question around religious renewal, many of whom went on to be the first priests in the Christian Community. 

**English Standard Version

***As spoken from the altar in the Consecration of the Human Being

Xuefen Mullins, 55, is an onsite Knowing Christ student at the Christian Community Seminary in North America. She was born in China. She resides in Chicago, Illinois, USA, where she enjoys working with soil.

This is a blog entry by The Seminary of the Christian Community in North America.  These are posted weekly by the student blog team of Athena Masilungan, Nicole Reinhart, and Lincoln Earle-Centers.  For more information about our seminary, see the website: www.christiancommunityseminary.ca and for more video/audio content check out the Seminary’s Patreon page: www.patreon.com/ccseminary/posts.  

The views expressed in this blog entry are the views of its author, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Seminary, its directors, or the Christian Community.