My Walking Staff

Alexander Shaia describes the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) in this way: "[They] reflect diverse parts of a harmonious unity which endlessly reflect and touch each other as we go through our lives.  As the very heart of Jesus's teachings, their practice opens us to compassion.  If we are able to place these on our hearts, walk with them on our feet, hold them in our hands, and seal them in our thoughts, we will have more insight along our journey.  They will become our walking staff and guide for the arduous times we will face" (The Hidden Power of the Gospels, 79). 

I'd extend this lovely metaphor--the walking staff--to include the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount.

What might it mean for us to place this sermon on our hearts, to walk with it (everyday) on our feet, to hold it (in every meeting, in every encounter) in our hands, and to seal it somehow in our thoughts?  "Blessed are the poor in spirit...I say, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...Do not worry, for God knows what you need...Seek first the kingdom of God, the justice of God...Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers..." 

Alexander Shaia suggests that Matthew's intent (and Jesus') is to invite a new kind of attentiveness.  A deep and reverent engagement in the ways of God.  "Just because a respected external authority establishes a code of behavior," he writes, "does not make it correct.  Meaningless acquiescence is not a holy course; a genuinely holy path requires individual responsibility, effort and scrutiny."  The Sermon on the Mount charts a course, a genuinely holy path.  It's a path that requires companionship, discipline, hope and mindfulness in every step. 

I have a walking staff that I take along, often, on long hikes.  Sometimes I grab it for a walk around the neighborhood.  I wonder, now, about carving into its wooden core some of these verses, some of Jesus' words, this teaching that guides me through arduous times...

LOVE. 
DO NOT WORRY. 
SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM.  
FORGIVE.
MERCY.  
PEACEMAKERS.  
YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

What about finding a walking staff for yourself?  What about carving the Sermon on the Mount--or the words that move you--into it?  Place these words on your heart every day.