Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Erik Kolbell in his book What Jesus Meant: The Beatitudes and a Meaningful Life references Psalm 24 to consider the notion of “clean hands and a pure heart.”
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.
They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation.
Such is the company of those who seek him.
Paul Tillich, the great theologian of the 20th century said, “God can be revealed through sacred texts or holy lives, liturgy or prayer. Or for that matter, he said, through a stick or stone.” When we are attentive to the divine we may from time to time steal little glimpses of it.
My friend Brian Williams does this with his photos that he shares with friends. Brian captures the purity of the moment, that glimpse of the divine, in places we often walk by without notice.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/101204-picture-this-man-turns-his-life-around
Anxious moments are impure moments because in them we are not disposed to God, not listening to God’s assurance that things will play out as they must. Jesus—a man who never had a steady job or a roof over his head, who never knew where his next meal was coming from or when he would be arrested for the courage of his convictions—has told us to let go of our worries.
With purity of heart comes the knowledge that God is never far from us, and that when we enter into a space in a pure way it becomes holy.
Moving from the pure and the clean to the state of peace and wholeness, wholeness is not a function of meeting our desires but of releasing ourselves from their power. Peace upholds the covenant and our fidelity to it, releases us from the anxiety we feel when doubt intrudes upon faith so much so that we question whether God is truly there to love and guide us through life. In peace the veil of unknowing is lifted. “Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give to you,” Jesus told his followers in the Gospel according to John (14:27).
Kolbell wonders if the story of the Garden of Eden is not a symbolic tale of humanity’s need to go beyond the peace God provides and want more. This itch we need to scratch, that takes us beyond our needs to our endless wants, is rarely healthy and always leads to a state of anxiety and sin.
Story of St. Francis – One day he was hoeing his garden. Someone came up to him and asked, “Francis, what if I were to tell you that in 3 hours you would be dead. What would you do?” St. Francis said, “I would keep hoeing my garden.”