Blessed are the mourners...

"Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh...

Woe to you who are laughing now, 

for you will mourn and weep."

Luke 6: 21b, 25b

In Lesson Two of our study, "Confessing the Beatitudes," we discovered that Jesus calls His disciples to  honor the mourners, and He calls into account those who live a life of laughter unaffected by their neighbors' tears.

We talked about the Greek word for "mourners" used in Matthew 5: 4, and the Greek word for "weepers" used in the Luke passage, as well as the word used for "laughers".

"mourners" = "penthountes"* in the Greek

a rare Greek word in the New Testament;

it seems to refer to those involved in 

ritualized public mourning or 

a raising of the voice in protest

"weepers" = "klaiontes"* in the Greek

this is a more general reference to those actively crying,

those weeping individually

or in a less formal group

*these two words occur together often

in the Bible as synonyms

"laughers" = "ge ontes" in the Greek

this word refers to those who laugh at,

scorn, or make fun of the mourners;

those blissfully happy in their own good fortune

and ignorant of the mourners around them;

those living in unconcerned joy

As we studied together, we came to some conclusions about God, the mourners, the laughers, and ourselves.  Two of the women gathering with us had just heard a presentation by Georgia Saunders, known as the homeless scribe.  Georgia is a woman just like you or me, a woman that suddenly spiraled into homelessness, a woman that found herself mourning her former life.  Here is our confession as a result of this lesson and our shared experience:

The mourners are to be greatly honored.

God, the source of our joy and comfort,
calls us as His instruments
to share His strength and love
with those we see mourning and weeping.


We need to step out of our own comfort zones,
stopping to pray, bending to bless, taking the time to touch
those mourning around us.
We need to be conscious, 
not living in self-satisfaction or unconcerned bliss
while others weep.


Therefore, we resolve to honor local author, 
Georgia Saunders, "the homeless scribe,"
currently mourning the loss of her former life of comfort
and now working toward independence
and financial security.
We will "Like" the Facebook fan page for her books 
and visit her website, 
"Home Street Home: The Virginia Beach Chronicles,"
and her blog, "Steeped in Books" often
to show our support for her.
We further commit to read
Georgia's "Home Street Home" books
and to share her story with many others.