The sermon on the Mount opens with the eight Beatitudes. They are actually a prose poem in eight verses and constitute a general summary of the Christian teaching. A general summing up, such as this, is highly characteristic of the old Oriental mode of approach to a religious and philosophical teaching, and it naturally recalls the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the Ten Commandments of Moses,and other such compact groupings of ideas.
Jesus concerned himself exclusively with the teaching of general principles, and these general principles always had to do with mental states, for he knew that if one’s mental states are right, everything else might be right too. Unlike the other great religious teachers, he gives us no detailed instructions about what we are to do or not to do.
… the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
…the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth
(John 4:21, 23-24).
As we look into our own spirits, let us contemplate Jesus’ teaching on the spirit with faith, hope and anticipation. Let us with an open heart and mind, reflect upon those spiritual attributes that will create the metal state God intends for us. This will require the willingness to face the truth and to change our spirits where they they have gone astray.
Although this can be a challenging path to take, it will invariably lead us into God’s grace. That grace, and the desire God kindle’s in us to obey his instruction, will bring us into the garden created for us. That grace will illuminate the path that takes us there. And that grace will strengthen and guide us when we stray from that path.
From the garden,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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