I Can Do It Myself...

   One of the books I mentioned yesterday,

   This guy is hiking the Appalachain Trail, a 2,000 plus mile walkway from the mountains of North Georgia to the mountains of Maine, and he is doing it alone. Like a turtle, he carries what he needs with him. He crosses into civilization occasionally, but, except for this resupply, he's got it all in his backpack.

   He is his own cook, his own doctor and his own psychiatrist on the long walk, and he has a "can do" attitude. He meets others on the trail, and in the towns along the way, but they are only bit actors, not part of any supporting cast.

   He does not say it in the book, but to me he seems like one of my kids who would say when I wanted to help get something done, "I can do it myself".

   I was reading the above book before I went to sleep last night, and this morning, something in my reading made me think of that "can do" attitude.

   I was in Matthew 5, in the Beatitudes section, and I paused at verse 3.

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

   There are 7 "Blessed"s in these next verses, and, even as each verse begins with "Blessed are..", all the other 6 after verse 3, end the sentence with "they shall", denoting a future event.

   Verse 3 ends with "their's is…", denoting present tense.

   Who are the "poor in spirit", and why is their blessed state in the here and now?

   From the reading of several commentaries on these verses, I understand that it is not lack of money or material possessions Jesus is talking about. He is referring to those who realize a poverty of spiritual things. They understand that they cannot do it all themselves.

   "To be poor in spirit is to have a humble opinion of ourselves; to be sensible that we are sinners, and have no righteousness of our own; to be willing to be saved only by the rich grace and mercy of God; to be willing to be where God places us, to bear what he lays on us, to go where he bids us, and to die when he commands; to be willing to be in his hands, and to feel that we deserve no favor from him."

   They are satisfied to be where God has placed them.

   I want to live that way. I don't want to just do it my way, I want to do it the right way.

   Not having read to the end of the book, but yet not seeing any reference to God in the narrative, I don't know the spiritual condition of the hiker, but I can realize that God is on the AT, regardless of whether or not he is seen.

   And this hiker is not doing it by himself.

   Prevenient Grace: "this is the grace that “goes before”—that grace which precedes human action and reflects God’s heart for his creation."

   Hopefully we will all find that we definitely cannot do it by ourselves.