Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit
Did you ever understand this?
If my spirit was poor, how could I enter heaven?
Was I depressed?
Understanding editing,
I see how a comma, removed or inserted
with careful plan,
can change everything.
I was reminded of this
when a poor young man
in Tunisia
desperate to live
and humiliated for trying
set himself ablaze;
I felt uncomfortably warm
as if scalded by his shame.
I do not have to sell vegetables from a cart as he did
or live in narrow rooms too small for spacious thought;
and, at this late date,
I do not worry that someone will
remove every single opportunity
for me to thrive.
Still, I am connected to, inseparable from,
this young man.
Blessed are the poor, in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus. (Commas restored) .
Jesus was as usual talking about solidarity: about how we join with others
and, in spirit, feel the world, and suffering, the same as them.
This is the kingdom of owning the other as self, the self as other;
that transforms grief into
peace and delight.
I, and you, might enter the heaven
of right here
through this door.
In this spirit, knowing we are blessed,
we might remain poor
If my spirit was poor, how could I enter heaven?
Was I depressed?
Understanding editing,
I see how a comma, removed or inserted
with careful plan,
can change everything.
I was reminded of this
when a poor young man
in Tunisia
desperate to live
and humiliated for trying
set himself ablaze;
I felt uncomfortably warm
as if scalded by his shame.
I do not have to sell vegetables from a cart as he did
or live in narrow rooms too small for spacious thought;
and, at this late date,
I do not worry that someone will
remove every single opportunity
for me to thrive.
Still, I am connected to, inseparable from,
this young man.
Blessed are the poor, in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus. (Commas restored) .
Jesus was as usual talking about solidarity: about how we join with others
and, in spirit, feel the world, and suffering, the same as them.
This is the kingdom of owning the other as self, the self as other;
that transforms grief into
peace and delight.
I, and you, might enter the heaven
of right here
through this door.
In this spirit, knowing we are blessed,
we might remain poor
Alice Walker
In the poem “Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit”, the author’s tone seemed to be filled with concern. Alice Walker starts the poem asking two questions, “Did you ever understand this?” and “If my spirit was poor, how could I enter heaven?” Walker seemed concern for those who truly asks these questions and as the poem progresses, she is eager to give them an answer. The author’s word choice was effortless. Her wording was simple because she was making a simple summit which was solidarity with others in spirit. If we all humble ourselves, not being proud in spirit, we should enter the kingdom. Walker uses imagery towards the middle of the passage by sharing a story about a poor man in North Africa. She talks about how he was humiliated for trying to set himself ablaze and how she was scaled by his shame, as to say she felt his suffering too. The core point of this tale was to show that coming together and sharing in one another’s suffering is what it’s all about. Poor in spirit means to be humble. Humility is the realization that all your gifts and blessings come from the grace of God. To have poverty of spirit means to be completely empty and open to the Word of God. Alice Walker shifts from asking questions to sharing a story and to finally give an account to the prior questions asked at the start of the poem.
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