UNKNOWN CAUSE OF POWER LOSS
On June 16, more than forty million people in Argentina and Uruguay woke up without electrical power. Local outages are not uncommon, but this was a massive failure of the power grid. The only part of Argentina that wasn’t without power was Tierra del Fuego, a mostly unpopulated archipelago off the southern tip of the mainland because it has its own electrical system. Not only lights but elevators, refrigerators, trains, subways, and more were without power for more than twenty-four hours. Argentina’s energy agency did not know what had caused the outage to be so widespread but speculated that it might have to do with recent storms.
UNEXPECTED SOURCE OF POWER GAIN
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is full of unexpected reversals, and the Beatitudes are especially surprising. In Jesus’ system, people who are low are actually lifted high by God’s power. The ones who are disrespected by the world are greatly honored by God. The ones who appear least in this world seem to be especially beloved by the Father. God’s ways are rarely our ways, and even today, it is almost unheard of to give mercy, to not seek revenge, or to value the overlooked. And yet this is what we will do to emulate the Lord and partake in His blessing and power.
- What’s the most serious effect you’ve ever encountered because of a power loss?
- Which of Jesus’ Beatitudes seems most countercultural in the world today?
- What do you think it means to be poor in spirit, and how can we do a better job of being this way?
