by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

Blessed.
…You are blessed.
…You are blessed,
……for you share your bread with the poor.

Blessed.
…You will not be blessed.
…You will not be blessed,
……because you shared with the poor.

This blessing will not come.
This blessing abides.

Did you not notice it?
…Did you not see?
…Did you not hear?
……Did you not taste and touch and smell?

You will not be blessed because you were generous with the poor.
…As if your blessing has not already met you.
…As if your blessing has not already come.
…As if you haven’t already stared that blessing in the eye…

As if you have not already met her.
…Mother of three, single and poor
…Teller of jokes with an incessant smile
…Lover of stories and poetry and alley-way art
…Conoisseur of Vivaldi,
……and life’s every season.

As if she has not already blessed you
…in ways you could not have previously dreamed

You will not be blessed because you were generous with the poor.
…As if the prosperity preachers were right.
…As if God gives a shit
……about your better life now

(which may as well be code for
…your better life when…
……the house,
……the car
……the job
……the [insert perfection here].

Or, more to the point:
…Your bitter life now.)

Those who are generous are blessed for they share their bread with the poor. Proverbs 22.9

Andrew Stephens-Rennie

Andrew is a writer, dreamer and organizer with a keen interest in developing leaders in faith, compassion and justice.

He currently serves as the Director of Missional Renewal for the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay on the unceded territories of the Sinixt, Syilx, and Ktunaxa nations. He previously served as the Director of Ministry Innovation at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, BC.

Andrew is cofounder and contributing editor at www.empireremixed.com, and co-editor of "A Sort of Homecoming: Essays Honoring the Academic and Community Work of Brian Walsh" with Marcia Boniferro and Amanda Jagt.