What Even is “Poor in Spirit?” | Matthew 5:3
September 16, 2023
What does “Blessed are the poor in spirit” really mean?
It’s like there is a gigantic deadline looming as May comes closer. Is it just because summer is starting? Or warmer weather is expected? The supposed April showers bringing May flowers. Or just the possibility of a vacation? Memorial Day does kind of serve as a kick off of some sort. Is it the promise of June and what golden adventures could await you?
I don’t know about any of that. I do know that it is the end of the school year. Why does that mean we have to cram 75 events into each week? Back in my day (spoken in a shaky sounding older lady voice) we didn’t have as much of this nonsense. I remember counting down to the last day of school, which was in mid-June by the way, but I have no memory of all the end of school bashes and blow outs. When did we start having awards shows for every grade? Why are we having them now? It’s great that little Mary Sue read 4001 books and amassed 10,072 accelerated reader points. Way to go Joey for doing that many sit ups in PE, 50 more than anyone else. Of course Jenny is the good citizen of the year for all of fourth grade. We knew she would be. But why do I have to be at a ceremony for it? Even when my own children are the recipients of the award, I don’t want to be there.
Remember that deadline I was talking about? There are only so many hours until the little cherubs are going to be home all day wanting breakfast, lunch, dinner and 17 snacks. Why can’t we just skip all those days and get out earlier. Heaven knows they won’t learn anything else the rest of the year. Everyone is on auto pilot now. Am I right?
I need all the time I can get to buy and assemble all the teacher gifts. Is it just me or is there a crazy need to have the best gift for your teacher? And are all of you buying gifts for the “specials’ teachers? The ones who teach art, music, PE, Spanish? Is it the same value as the principal teacher? Speaking of principals, are you getting her a gift? The office staff? The custodian…although to be honest they deserve the biggest and best gift for picking up after all those children every single day.
What if your kids are older and have multiple teachers? What if you have several children in the same school and they share teachers? Is one gift enough? Having two Trotters a year seems like something that should be honored. Is it wrong to just want to send cash?
Also, there are the gifts for the graduates you might know. This is so hard. You want meaningful, maybe useful, but absolutely economical. Especially if you know a bajillion twelfth graders. Do you get the boys and girls the same gift? What must it be like to live in a city that has all the things you need? The added stress of small towns is the necessity of ordering gifts. For procrastinators, ahem, this is a nightmare.
By the way, you are probably still going to several different sports games a week. How is laundry going for you guys? It’s rough over here.
And all the local restaurants and fast food establishments know us.
