Episode 29: Blessed Are They Which Are Persecuted

Christopher talks with guest co-host Shiloh Logan about the final Beatitude on persecution. The Beatitudes are understood as a story that starts with the poverty of spirit (i.e., the emptying) and concludes with a blessing upon the persecuted. But what is persecution? Emerson recognized, in at least one sense, the difficulty in identifying real persecution when he pleaded, “Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.” Mere or proactive disagreement is not persecution. Yet, even beyond the discussion of external persecution, how often do we persecute ourselves? How often does our false self persecute our true self? Could it be that by recognizing, dealing, and showing grace with the voice of our internal false self that we begin to recognize, learn, and have grace for how to deal with external persecutions as Christian peacemakers?